Naoya Inoue is in action on Saturday, defending his WBA and IBF bantamweight world titles against Michael Dasmarinas of the Philippines.
Inoue (20-0, 17 KOs) returned to the ring in October 2020 and added another knockout to his resume against the previously unbeaten Jason Moloney. Dasmarinas (30-2-1, 20 KOs), who hasn't lost since 2014, fights for the first time on U.S. soil in the opportunity of a lifetime against Inoue.
On paper, it would seem to be something of a mismatch in favor of Inoue, who is a -2,000 betting favorite at Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill as of Thursday morning. But there's more to this fight than meets the eye as Dasmarinas, a lanky southpaw, presents a kind of opponent Inoue hasn't seen much of in his career.
Two-division world champion and ESPN analyst Timothy Bradley Jr. breaks down the keys to this fight, as well as what Inoue has to look forward to if he can continue his undefeated run.
What makes Inoue so dangerous?
Inoue has every punch in his arsenal mastered -- and I mean every punch. His right hand is ferocious. His uppercuts, body shots and, as you saw against Nonito Donaire, Inoue's left hook is probably the most explosive punch that he throws.
He has a variety of jabs that he uses to set up the rest of his offense, from level-changing jabs and vertical jabs to power jabs where you take a half a step in and you come behind with your legs and push a guy back. He has a right hand counter, where he slips to the side, similar to what Pacquiao does from the left hand side, where you lean your lean off the middle.
If you really want to know what really makes Inoue who he is, honestly, it's his balance. Even when he's in the middle of exchanges, and he kind of gets out of position, it's almost like he has an autocorrect feature, and he corrects his balance immediately. He never seems to be out of position to punch.
That kind of balance is a big part of how Inoue generates his power. When your feet are solid to the ground, and stabilized, you're able to generate a lot of torque because punching power comes from the ground up. It comes from the feet, all the way up to the torso, you get the torso rotation, lining up his shoulders. You combine that with the hand speed, the weight behind the punch and the techniques and the mechanics that go along with it, the amount of power Inoue is able to generate as a 118-pounder is off the charts.
An Inoue fight is something special to watch, every time out. A smaller guy with that much punching power is a rarity, and you don't get to see a fighter with these kinds of skills display them very often.
What does Dasmarinas bring to the table as a challenger?
Dasmarinas has a ton of experience. His temperament is pretty calm as well. But he's a beast inside the ring, and he's gonna bring it to Inoue. He is a taller, longer fighter who has legit explosive power and some range fighting out of the southpaw stance.
I think it will be interesting to see what a southpaw can do against Inoue, if he can hang in there with him. Through 20 pro fights, Inoue has only fought two southpaws. In October 2018, he fought Juan Carlos Payano, and knocked him out 1:10 into the first round. All the way back in December 2014, when he was still down at 108 pounds, Inoue beat Omar Narvaez in the second round. That's less than three total rounds against southpaws in his career thus far.
Dasmarinas is a fantastic body puncher. I'll be curious to see how Inoue deals with a guy that's gonna dig him down to the body. Dasmarinas is a guy that can mix up his rhythm, change things up, get on his bike, move and also can fight. The more I look at Dasmarinas, the more I think this guy is a threat. He's not gonna be a slouch -- not a walkover at all.
Dasmarinas's signature punch is an overhand left, and I think it's going to be a particularly useful attack against Inoue. I see Inoue's right side as potentially being a bit weakened. That's the eye socket that I believe Donaire crushed, with his left hook. I don't know how well it is, how it's healed, and we won't know until someone tests it.
Inoue is a special fighter, but I believe he's gonna get tested early in this fight.
What's going to give Dasmarinas the most trouble against Inoue?
One of the areas where Dasmarinas is weak is defense. He's not really defensively sound like he should be. If he had a little bit more defense, I would give him a really good chance to compete with Inoue. But his defense is subpar, and when you enter the ring against a big puncher like Inoue, you can't get hit without paying the price.
What did the Donaire fight reveal about Inoue?
Inoue has shown us how tough he is, and how gritty he can be. In the Donaire fight, he suffered the facial fracture, a broken nose and still battled all the way to the end. He found a way to land that body shot on Donaire, and dropped him to take that victory.
That fight alone shows you the type of heart he has, and the temperament he brings it to the ring. He has a calm outer demeanor with an inner storm brewing. Very calm outside, very respectful, but he's a beast inside of the ring. He kind of reminds me of Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao has a public presence that's a little more cheerful, while Inoue is typically very reserved. But in the same way Pacquiao can flip that switch, Inoue can bring out that assassin on command.
Donaire is a legend, who just turned around and won another world championship at 37 years old. He's still knocking out some of the best guys at 118 pounds. You know what one win like that does for a fighter like Inoue, who's entering his prime? It's immeasurable. You want to see the longevity, of course, but as far as his career goes, Inoue is already on a legendary course.
We're a long ways away, but if your goal as a boxer is to one day become a Hall of Famer, you have to have a few of those signature wins against the legends of the sport. It's about beating the best guys that came before you, or the best guys that are in your division right now.
What's your overall assessment of Inoue through his first 20 fights?
You have to understand that Inoue climbed up three weight divisions. He's already cleaned out the best fighters in two divisions, and he's well on his way to doing that in a third. Inoue is the No. 3 fighter on our pound-for-pound list for a reason.
He's a guy that's fearless. He's a guy with that mental toughness, the tenacity, and when you add that to the natural ability that's been curated from a young age -- by Inoue's father, similar to how Lomachenko came up -- he's been built from the ground up. It's hard to contemplate an opponent that's going to come in and stop Inoue any time soon.
How does Inoue-Dasmarinas play out?
I think Inoue is going to put a massive amount of pressure on Dasmarinas and put him on his back foot. But Dasmarinas is no pushover, and he's going to fight back -- he's tall, long and rangy.
There's long been a debate in boxing, in terms of who generates the most punching power. Tall, lanky fighters have this unwavering power as they're swinging down, but then you also have the shorter, smaller guys punching up with a lot of power. Who hits harder -- a taller guy like Deontay Wilder, or a shorter guy like Mike Tyson, who's punching up?
Both of them punch hard, of course, but I believe the smaller guy punching up hits harder.
You have to account for the leverage that the taller fighters have, bringing down their weight and force on the smaller man -- they're basically throwing rocks downhill. But when you got a guy that could throw a fastball uphill, and can hurt you, I think you got to get the credit to the smaller guy -- and the punches have a similar effect.
At the end of the day, I think Inoue still wins in this matchup, and I think he's gonna win in a spectacular fashion. I believe Inoue is going to find a way to end this fight with a knockout, and I'm going to say it happens around the midway point. He's going to find a way to land the left hook, on Dasmarinas's chin or body and it's gonna be over, all she wrote.
If he handles Dasmarinas, what would you like to see from Inoue moving forward?
Inoue just wants to fight the best. He's not a guy that sits back and picks and chooses going up to the right weight class at the right time to go after someone who looks vulnerable, trying to make history that way.
There's really no plan, at least as far as I can see. If there is a plan, it's to destroy anyone that stands in front of him. You know, that's why they call him "The Monster." He wants to fight every last one 'em.
It can be John Riel Casimero, who has the WBO belt. It can be a rematch with Donaire, who won the WBC world title. Any of those big fights would be fantastic. Just line them up. It doesn't matter with this guy, because he is entertaining every time he steps in the ring.
At the end of the day, being a fan and loving to watch boxing, after seeing him for the first time in person against Jason Maloney, I and the fans need to see more of Inoue. I don't just want to see him fight once a year, or twice a year. I want to see this guy fight at least three times a year.
While it obviously depends on his level of competition, each win lifts Inoue higher and higher. If he takes care of Dasmarinas, and he goes on a tear and beats Casimero, and then goes back and beats Donaire again, I think we're going to be having a very serious discussion about Inoue crashing the party and challenging Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez for one of those top two spots in the ESPN pound-for-pound rankings.