Inoue v Nakatani, Fury v Joshua And The Best Same-Nation Fights To Make In 2025
After Naoya Inoue demolished yet another opponent on Tuesday, promoter Bob Arum outlined some exciting plans for 2025 for the undisputed super-bantamweight champion.
In addition to a return to the United States, likely in April, the Top Rank president teased a mega-bout with fellow Japanese star and bantamweight world champion Junto Nakatani.
Few things can capture the boxing public’s imagination quite like domestic rivals fighting each other on the biggest stage for the biggest prizes, and several such bouts have every chance of being made in 2025.
Here are seven world title fights between fighters from the same country we want to see next year.
Naoya Inoue v Junto Nakatani (Super-Bantamweight)
Inoue (28-0-0 25 KO) maintained his relentless assault on the super-bantamweight division on Tuesday by dominating TJ Doheny, who quit early in the seventh round with a back injury. Had the Irishman not pulled up, a knockout stoppage looked increasingly inevitable.
Another dominant display from ‘The Monster’ but also another example of Inoue, a four-weight world champion, struggling to find worthy opponents who can truly challenge his reign as the 122lb division’s king.
The biggest threat could come from Nakatani, whose career path is closely emulating that of Inoue’s. Nakatani (28-0-0 21 KO) has collected world titles in three weight classes and is currently the WBC’s bantamweight champion.
Like Inoue, Nakatani combines skill and immense power to outbox and then flatten opponents, leading to his rise in the pound-for-pound rankings.
Japan’s two biggest boxing stars going to war in Tokyo would be one of the fights of the year, and Arum is aiming to arrange the bout for late 2025.
Tyson Fury v Anthony Joshua (Heavyweight)
The heavyweight showdown the world has been wanting to see for years. Fury (34-1-1 24 KO) and Joshua (28-3-0 25 KO) were close to fighting after agreeing a multi-fight deal in 2021, only for a US court to rule that Deontay Wilder had a legal right to demand a trilogy bout with the Gypsy King.
In the years since, Joshua lost his unified titles to Oleksandr Usyk but has returned to the top of the division following a string of impressive wins. On September 21, he bids to become a three-time world champion against IBF title holder Daniel Dubois.
Fury, meanwhile, made three more defenses of his WBC title before suffering his first loss on a split decision to Usyk in May’s undisputed bout. Their rematch is scheduled for December 21.
Following their respective bouts, the path is clear for Fury and Joshua to finally fight, with Saudi Arabian boxing chief Turki Alalshikh revealing that offers will go out to both British fighters after their upcoming bouts.
After years of standoffs, collapsed talks, and broken promises, the biggest fight in boxing looks closer than ever.
Sebastian Fundora v Terence Crawford (Super-Welterweight)
A super-welterweight unification bout between WBC and WBO champion Fundora (21-1-1 13 KO) and WBA title holder Crawford (41-0-0 31 KO) could even happen before next year.
Crawford’s win over Israil Madrimov last month not only saw the Nebraskan claim the Uzbek’s WBA belt but also the WBO’s interim title; the WBO has since made Crawford mandatory and ordered the fight with Fundora.
Reports claim Crawford remains focused on a mega-bout with unified super-middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, but a fight with fellow American Fundora to unify the 154lb division holds plenty of appeal.
Alalshikh, who has taken an increasingly central role in Crawford’s career, has revealed an offer has also gone out to WBC interim champion Vergil Ortiz to fight ‘Bud’, so the four-weight world champion has options.
However, a showdown with Fundora to continue Crawford’s push to become a three-weight undisputed champion should be among the priorities.
Shakur Stevenson v Gervonta Davis (Lightweight)
Stevenson (22-0-0 10 KO) is plotting the next chapter of his career having joined Matchroom Boxing, and the first assignment for the WBC lightweight champion is Joe Cordina on October 14.
Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn has stated his plans to match the Floridian against top-ranked challenger William Zepeda after the fight with Cordina, before the ultimate lightweight clash against WBA champion Davis.
“The plan for us is to fight Cordina, if he wins that fight, to fight Zepeda, and if he wins that fight, I believe he should go straight into the Gervonta Davis fight,” Hearn said. “That will be the biggest fight in boxing if he can win those two fights convincingly.”
Previous attempts to arrange a Stevenson v Davis bout have fallen through, and the fact ‘Tank’ is with rival promoters PBC is sure to cause some negotiation issues. But money talks and if they can agree purses, then the lightweight fight the world wants to see could happen next year.
Jaron Ennis v Brian Norman Jr (Welterweight)
A unified fight between IBF champion Ennis and WBO title holder Norman wouldn’t have caused too much excitement just a month ago, but the building tension between the rivals in recent weeks is gradually changing the narrative.
Ennis (32-0-0 29 KO) and his promoter Hearn have said several offers, each increasing in value, have been sent to Norman (26-0-0 20 KO) but all have been rejected. Norman and his team dispute their version of events, insisting they accepted the offer but Ennis backed out and instead wanted the fight to be for undisputed.
Of all the unification fights available to Philadelphia’s Ennis, the one against Georgian Norman is the most exciting. Both fighters could have mandatory defenses to navigate first, so a bout in early 2025 would make sense – if they can agree terms.
Saul Alvarez v Diego Pacheco (Super-Middleweight)
OK, so Pacheco is American, but the super-middleweight contender also fights under the Mexican flag, so we’re counting this as a same-nation bout.
Pacheco (22-0-0 18 KO) came through the toughest test of his career so far by being the first fighter to stop Maciej Sulecki just last week and was rewarded by the WBO with mandatory status for its world title.
The WBO belt is currently held by Canelo Alvarez, who also holds the WBA and WBC titles, and a fight between the pair is looking likely for September 2025. Canelo (61-2-2 39 KO) makes the next defense of his titles against Edgar Berlanga on September 14 and assuming he comes through that, the Mexican will have another fight in May.
Pacheco is assured of his crack at the world title, but promoter Hearn said they want to arrange one more bout before challenging Canelo. Fellow top-ranked contender Jaime Munguia is their preferred choice.
Teofimo Lopez v Devin Haney (Super-Lightweight)
It’s a fight that never happened at lightweight and doesn’t appear much closer at super-lightweight either, but the demand is still there.
WBA champion Lopez (21-1-0 13 KO) has been active in 2024 but a pair of underwhelming performances against Jamaine Ortiz and Steve Claggett have done little to detract the critics.
Haney (31-0-0 15 KO), meanwhile, has had an eventful year; his loss to Ryan Garcia in April’s mega-bout was ultimately overturned after Garcia’s failed drug tests, and Haney has since vacated his WBC title after disappointing purse bids for his mandatory defense against Sandor Martin.
Both fighters need a captivating bout and facing each other will undoubtedly achieve that – not to mention a handsome payday. Could 2025 finally be the year?
