One of those matchups occurred earlier today in Tokyo Japan after all the pre-fight speculation, previews, and predictions, it was abundantly obvious that Naoya Inoue was going to defeat WBC and WBC junior featherweight champion Stephen Fulton unless Fulton could do anything to change the dynamic.
If Fulton would be unable to do anything to pull that off, the only question would be whether Inoue won by decision or would he be able to stop Fulton?
Fulton was trying his best to repel Inoue but he was unable to establish the jab which in the buildup for the fight was thought to be the tactical edge that Fulton might have, and Inoue used his jab to set up his attack to break down Fulton bit by bit.
Fulton did try his best and the fourth and fifth rounds were relatively close although I scored both for Inoue and Inoue held a 70-63 lead on my card.
There would be no need to score further as Inoue landed a tremendous right hand that reduced Fulton's legs to rubber only to be hit by a left hook that dropped Fulton for the first time in his career.
Fulton showed heart in getting up but he was unable to fend off the charge of Inoue's punches and knocked Fulton down again with the referee stopping the fight without a count.
Impressive is too soft to describe the victory as Inoue stepped up in weight and tore apart the best fighter that the division had to offer with ease, taking his two championships with him.
And pity poor Marlon Tapales, who upset Murodjon Akhmadaliev with a split decision to take his WBA and IBF titles in April, and was brought into the ring for a faceoff with Inoue after the fight.
Tapales, much like Paul Butler last December, will be given the payday of his career for the sacrifice of his titles, and will almost certainly be dismissed by Inoue whenever he chooses to do so.
And after Inoue dispatches Tapales, Inoue is likely to leave the junior featherweight division as he left the bantamweights- with nothing to prove and with all four titles.
That would leave the featherweight division to conquer and again the only question is when Inoue hits that magical invisible weight that his greatness is reduced to merely excellent.
Inoue would be favored against any featherweight champion and none of those fighters other than maybe WBO champion Robeisy Ramirez, a two-time Olympic gold medal winner would have even a minimal chance.
WBC king Rey Vargas fights for PBC and unlike Fulton, who also fights for PBC, Vargas doesn't appear likely to gamble on greatness to challenge Inoue.
Vargas is a safety-first boxer and would likely try to run from Inoue for twelve rounds.
The WBA champion, England's Leigh Wood fights for Matchroom and would likely engage Inoue before paying a massive price to do so, should such a fight be arranged.
IBF titleist Luis Alberto Lopez has impressed with his road wins over Josh Warrington to win this title and then defending against Michael Conlan but he doesn't appear to have the all-around game that would trouble Inoue and while WBO standard bearer Robeisy Ramirez has the amateur pedigree and maturing professional game, I wonder if he has the in-ring discipline that it will take to defeat Inoue.
It may be putting the cart well before the horse but I'm not sure that the junior lightweight division has the man to tame the Monster either.
It may be two years away before invading that division would happen but I'd favor Inoue against any of the four champions- Hector Luis Garcia (WBA/PBC) fought well before being stopped by Gervonta Davis but suffered from double-vision in that fight and his status is unknown, WBC (free agent) champion O'Shaquie Foster would likely be meat on Inoue's platter, IBF beltholder Joe Cordina (Matchroom) would meet a fate similar to Leigh Wood in an Inoue challenge, a game attack before being overwhelmed, and either WBO champion Emanuel Navarrete or his August challenger in two-division champion Oscar Valdez would be an exciting opponent for Inoue as well as the best known and with both promoted by Top Rank, would be an easy fight to sign, although both appear to be overmatched by Inoue.
Of course, upsets always are part of the boxing landscape and eventually, some unexpected boxer will take away the zero of Inoue if he fights long enough or moves up in weight too many times.
However for now and for the foreseeable future- Naoya Inoue looks unbeatable and unless the winner of Saturday night's Errol Spence-Terence Crawford battle is incredibly impressive to stake their claim, Inoue is the best fighter in the world.
In the co-feature, Robeisy Ramirez retained his WBO featherweight title with a fifth-round knockout over former Olympic bronze medalist Satoshi Shimizu.
Ramirez won the first four rounds over the lanky challenger before busting his face and eye in the fifth before crunching him with a left uppercut that Shimizu did well to get up from but was saved by the referee from taking more punishment.
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