Arum Praises Inoue, Slams Mayweather For Wanting The Japanese To Face Tank Davis

Bob Arum has sung the praises of Naoya Inoue after his recent win over Stephen Fulton. 

Inoue became a four-division champion after he stopped Fulton in the eighth-round to pick up his WBC and WBO super bantamweight belts.

The victory was all the more impressive, given that there were concerns that the larger Fulton would overpower his opponent.

Although that may have been the case, the Japanese managed to negate Fulton’s jab, close the distance and dominate the fight. 

And given that Inoue has moved up from 108 pounds, much like Manny Pacquiao who did something similar from 106 pounds, Arum was in awe of the Japanese star. 

Arum On Inoue

“Inoue is a tremendous, tremendous fighter, like we’ve never seen before, maybe since Manny Pacquiao—probably better than Pacquiao was. I think he has a chance to go all the way up, maybe even to junior lightweight or lightweight,” Arum said 

In addition, Bob Arum has slammed Floyd Mayweather’s suggestion that Naoya Inoue should face Gervonta Davis at a catchweight. 

Following his win over Stephen Fulton with an eighth-round stoppage to claim the WBC and WBO super bantamweight belts, Mayweather reacted to the victory by suggesting Davis an opponent.

“I like him. He takes a lot of stuff from my playbook. But that’s OK. In boxing, you’re supposed to take something from the greats. What I would like to see is if [Inoue] would fight Gervonta [Davis] at a catchweight,” Mayweather

This was on the basis that Inoue has continued to move up from 108 lbs to 122 lbs. However, given that Davis campaigns at 135, as well as having fought at 140, Arum downplayed any ideas of this fight happening. 

“Inoue started at 108 pounds. Now he’s worked his way up to 122. He is a tremendous star in Japan. Virtually nobody in Japan knows who Tank Davis is.

“Why would Inoue, who is undersized at 122, talk about fighting a guy [Gervonta] who’s essentially a junior welterweight at 140 pounds? It makes absolutely no sense,” Arum

In reality, getting the undisputed championship fight at 122 pounds is more realistic for Inoue.

Following his victory, the IBF and WBA champion ​​Marlon Tapales joined Inoue in the ring as both fighters expressed their intention to fight for undisputed. So far now, an Inoue-Davis bout appears unlikely. 

You can stay up-to-date with the latest happenings in the world of boxing and MMA by visiting boxingblitz right here.