“He makes me speechless when I watch him”, it is said about Naoya Inoue. “I haven’t seen that speed and power since Manny Pacquiao.” But can this new vicious puncher from Asia achieve the same mainstream success as he chases a major US breakthrough? By JAMES DIELHENN
Government troops and enemy rebels in the Philippines once agreed to an unofficial ceasefire during a Manny Pacquiao fight to “watch, cheer and pray” for him.
The only thing that united a divided nation at that time was their greatest export, and so they watched from afar as Pacquiao lit up Las Vegas once again.
The continent of Asia has had fighters before and since, many became world champions and many generated great interest but very few did both. Nobody drew the reverence from their homeland as Pacquiao did while shining in the United States.
Until now.
Naoya Inoue is the world’s hardest puncher but stands at just 5’5’’. Inside the ring he is electric to a shocking extent – when he hits opponents, they fall in a scarcely-believable way.
He is a mega-star in Japan, his home country, where his image adorns billboards and features on mainstream TV shows.
But the final frontier remains the United States.
Inoue will fight Michael Dasmarinas on Sunday morning from 3am, live on Sky Sports, from Las Vegas in the latest chapter in his quest to prove himself as the world’s greatest fighter and to become a bona-fide Asian-born star in the US not since seen Pacquiao.
It is difficult to quantify what exactly turns a regular sportsperson into a genuine superstar like Pacquiao.
New York Yankees hero Masahiro Tanaka, golfer Inbee Park and the NBA icon Jeremy Lin (who generated the cultural phenomenon Linsanity) are among a small handful of Asians who transcended their sport to a US fan-base.
Pacquiao was little-known on his US arrival and it is now perhaps overlooked that his transition to a big name was very slow. Sean Gibbons, the president of MP Promotions and the American best-placed to talk about the boxer-turned-politician, tells Sky Sports: “Even for the Senator, it took years to reach the level that he eventually reached.
“He first came to the US in 2001 [to beat Lehlo Ledwaba in his 35th fight]. It wasn’t until he beat Marco Antonio Barrera in 2006 that he really made an impact.
“The Senator nurtured the US market for years. He had Erik Morales, Jose Luis Castillo. To become a star you need a dance partner – like dancing the tango, it takes two.”
Pacquiao benefitted from being alongside a generation of brilliant Mexicans and, by fighting them all, he integrated himself with that fan-base.
“The second-biggest market in the US is the Hispanic market,” explains Gibbons. “To this day, the second-biggest fighter in Mexico behind Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is Pacquiao. That’s because he beat all their guys.
“The timing was key. The fights themselves were tremendous.”
Inoue, so far, does not have rivals with big profiles. His past four opponents were from Asia and Australia.
“Inoue has a huge market in Japan,” noted Gibbons. “Can he really cross over into the real mainstream in the US like The Senator did? Pacquiao was generational.
“It is very difficult for the regular guy in the street to know your name.”
Like Pacquiao in his early days, Inoue does not speak English.
Though the crash of his rivals to the canvas, one after another after another, is a universal sound, the challenge facing Inoue is how to communicate outside of his homeland.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from, you can be Asian or local,” Chinese heavyweight Zhilei Zhang, who is also trying to raise his profile in the west, tells Sky Sports.
“We are professionals. To be successful in the US or anywhere else you have to work hard, put in a good performance, and be a kind, nice person with a good personality. People will follow.”
But don’t the American fight fraternity gravitate towards loud voices like Floyd Mayweather’s or Tyson Fury’s? Inoue will never compete with them vocally.
“A lot of people follow those with huge personalities who talk a lot,” admits Zhang. “But sometimes you get people come to you and say: ‘You are humble’. The most important thing is to be yourself.”
Inoue does not turn tables over at press conference or shove opponents before the bell rings, but there is no lack of sparkle.
He has a boyish smirk when asked how his 5’5’’ frame generates such a thunderous punch.
There is an unflappable steeliness about him that can be quite frightening.
“He makes me speechless when I watch him,” Todd duBoef, the president of Top Rank who promote Inoue, tells Sky Sports. “I’ve been in the business since 1993 but when you see speed, power in both hands, boxing IQ the way he has? He is just gripping.
“He is as exciting a fighter as anyone who has come out of Asia. He is the most exciting thing since Manny Pacquiao in the United States.”
“I got to find out what I wanted to know about myself through that fight. I always knew I was tough but I’d never experienced anything like that. Maybe I got to know everything there is to know through that fight.”
Perhaps there is something in Inoue’s blood that best explains his freaky punch power.
He is the son of a fighter, like Chris Eubank Jr or Conor Benn. His home city, Zama, is known for its ancient warriors.
When his father and trainer Shingo was shoved by someone from opponent Emmanuel Rodriguez’s entourage, it drew no response whatsoever. Nothing. Rodriguez was a world champion undefeated in 19 fights but was destroyed inside two rounds – afterwards, Inoue admitted he had “hit him as hard as ever in a vindictive way”.
The heritage that Inoue comes from does not permit pre-fight shows of aggression or post-fight arrogance. Like Pacquiao, Inoue smiles at a rival then wrecks them.
“The Japanese culture is very humble,” said actor Danny Lee Clark who is also from Zama. “But do not mistake humble for weak. Do not mistake kindness for a lack of ferocity.”
‘The Monster’ Inoue, aged 28, is now undefeated in 20 with 17 KOs which is unheard of in the smaller weight divisions.
He is a three-weight world champion who will defend the IBF and WBA bantamweight titles this weekend. There is some way to go to match Pacquiao’s staggering eight-division supremacy.
⚡POWER IN BOTH HANDS⚡@naoyainoue_410 produced another spectacular KO in his last performance against Jason Moloney😮
📺Sunday 3am Sky Sports pic.twitter.com/BH99mGpctp
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) June 16, 2021
Tim Bradley fought Pacquiao three times but says about Inoue: “I haven’t seen that speed and power since. The first time I fought Pacquiao, when punches flew past me I could literally hear them.
“Inoue is more technical than Pacquiao, more precise, more accurate. Inoue throws the right amount of punches at the right time which is extraordinary.”
Jamie McDonnell was a British world champion who went to Japan to fight Inoue and didn’t even see the end of the first round.
“I’ll say now that his power is as real as it gets,” McDonnell previously said. “It’s like a big thud and it didn’t even look like he was loading up when he caught me.”
McDonnell’s trainer Dave Coldwell tells Sky Sports: “At the weigh-in you look at him and think: ‘He is very small – how does this man possess so much power?’
“He doesn’t look like a beast. But then on fight night? He has such ability to transfer his weight through his punches. He is fantastic.”
Inoue knocked out three former world champions consecutively in a total of less than four rounds but the way he came through his toughest test against Nonito Donaire was impressive in a different way.
He boxed 10 rounds with the same eye socket injury that recently caused defeats for Daniel Dubois and Billy Joe Saunders, eventually winning via unanimous decision.
“From the second round, I was seeing double,” Inoue has said. “There were basically two Donaires in front of me, and I was moving by instinct.
“I got to find out what I wanted to know about myself through that fight. I always knew I was tough but I’d never experienced anything like that. Maybe I got to know everything there is to know through that fight.”
Such heroism caught the eye of the Americans, explains Pacquiao’s associate Gibbons: “The Nonito Donaire fight took Inoue up a notch. It gave him exposure. Inoue needs to keep having signature fights.”
“The Japanese economy is very robust unlike the Filipino economy. So Inoue will do a lot of his fights in Japan because he is such a massive star there. So I will have to do things differently.” Bob Arum
The twist to this weekend’s fight is that Inoue’s downfall is being loosely plotted by Pacquiao.
Dasmarinas, Inoue’s challenger nicknamed ‘Hot and Spicy’, is also from the Philippines and has been using Freddie Roach’s gym, the facility made famous by Pacquiao whose long runs through the Hollywood Hills are the stuff of legend.
“The Senator backs all Filipino fighters,” says Gibbons. “He okayed signing Dasmarinas. He tells them all the same thing: ‘work hard, don’t cheat yourself’.
“Dasmarinas has been training at the Wild Card Gym. If you’re in Los Angeles and you’re Filipino, the logical place to go is the Wild Card. He is walking in The Senator’s footsteps.
“Dasmarinas is a humble guy but a warrior in the ring. He has been to Japan to spar with Inoue’s brother.
“Inoue has knocked out a lot of better fighters than Dasmarinas has, and has done it quicker.
“Dasmarinas is a capable guy but he’s fighting ‘The Monster!’ Inoue can change a fight with one shot. Dasmarinas will, like his name says, be ‘Hot and Spicy’ – whether it goes one round or 12, there will be punches thrown, there will be bombs.”
It will thrill Las Vegas and some will anoint Inoue as the best boxer on the planet if he wins again. But will it gain mainstream appeal in the US?
“There will never been another Manny Pacquaio,” shrugs Gibbons. “I don’t care what country you are from.
“Inoue has a chance to be a star in his own right but he needs quality opponents, guys that are recognised.
“In a nutshell, just like there is only one Ricky Hatton, there is also only one Manny Pacquiao.
“Inoue is a star in his own right, in the shadow of nobody.”
Perhaps that is the pertinent point. Maybe Pacquiao’s journey from the slums in Manila to the glitz of the Vegas Strip to the political office in the Philippines is too unique to compare against. Perhaps Inoue doesn’t need to, and could achieve cult status in a different way.
This is something that has not escaped Bob Arum, the Top Rank promoted who built Pacquiao in the US and now oversees Inoue.
“The difference is that Inoue fights out of Japan,” Arum tells Sky Sports. “The Japanese economy is very robust unlike the Filipino economy. So Inoue will do a lot of his fights in Japan because he is such a massive star there. So I will have to do things differently.
“Pacquiao depended on the US market.”
Inoue is a national hero, like Pacquiao was, but in a country that does not require outside approval. Maybe, as Inoue clatters rival after rival, the question will become whether the US market can attract Asia’s greatest stars to them.
Watch pound-for-pound star and fearsome puncher Naoya Inoue against Michael Dasmarinas in a world title fight from Las Vegas on Sunday at 3am, live on Sky Sports.
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