Search
5 minutes read

Eddie Hearn Scathes Inoue For ‘Ducking’ Akhmadaliev, Ignores The WBA’s Role

Eddie Hearn Scathes Inoue For 'Ducking' Akhmadaliev featured image
Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn has heavily criticized the perceived allowance for Naoya Inoue to fight anyone but WBA mandatory Murodjon Akhmadaliev. (Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

The WBA has once again sailed past any form of criticism after Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn chose to flame Naoya Inoue for allegedly avoiding Murodjon Akhmadaliev, his WBA mandatory, despite the WBA having flagrantly allowed Inoue to avoid facing him, even going so far as to demand Inoue’s removal from the pound-for-pound rankings. Hearn’s statements follow Inoue’s most recent January 24 bout against the unestablished Yee Joon Kim who replaced Australian contender Sam Goodman. According to the latest rumors, Inoue is seeking a bout with Mexican contender Alan Picasso Romero in what may be construed as another attempt to avoid Akhmadaliev.

Japanese super bantamweight (122 lbs) champion Naoya Inoue (29-0, 26 KO’s) was his usual destructive self against South Korean challenger Yee Joon Kim (21-3-2, 13 KO’s)―who stepped in as a replacement for Australian contender Sam Goodman (19-0, 8 KO’s)―on January 25, but days after his victory, reports from BoxingScene began linked him to a potential bout with Mexican contender Alan Picasso Romero (31-0-1, 17 KO’s). According to BoxingScene, who cited “two officials close to the situation” as their source, Inoue could possibly return to the United States to face Picasso. Inoue last fought in the US in 2021.

The kid is asking for the fight,” Rene Aviles, a representative of Zanfer Promotions―to which Picasso is signed―told BoxingScene.

He wants the biggest fights, he wants to be a world champion and he’s ranked [# 1]. So that (Inoue-Picasso fight) is his path. It’s on the table.

Zanfer is known to carry positive business relations with Top Rank, with several of its fighters being co-promoted by the US-based promotion. While Picasso is Mexican, it is presumed he has a decent fanbase in the United States which would allow Top Rank to further bolster Inoue’s profile in the country. However, this would directly impact Uzbek contender Murodjon Akhmadaliev (13-1, 10 KO’s) who continues to be sidelined since Inoue chose to face TJ Doheny (26-5, 20 KO’s), and was subsequently poised to face Sam Goodman, despite Akhmadaliev’s position as a WBA mandatory and WBA interim champion.

Since being declared the mandatory last year, Akhmadaliev has seen himself bereft of any opportunity to fight for a world title; all of which are currently held by Inoue. With Akmhadaliev being signed to Matchroom, chairman Eddie Hearn naturally weighed in on the latest rumors of Inoue potentially facing Picasso and couldn’t hide his frustration in a recent interview:

I’m just like… why should Naoya Inoue get a pass to fight low-level opponents and duck his mandatory not once, not twice, but three times,Eddie Hearn told IFL TV.

I just feel if that was AJ [Anthony Joshua], like you imagine if AJ ducked Usyk―Usyk was the mandatory, he boxed him. A lot of people said, “[Joshua] don’t fight him, vacate your belt’. It’s what you do as a champion.

Inoue is undisputed, pound-for-pound great [but] I gotta say, his resume is pretty s***. Okay, he beat Stephen Fulton, good performance, I mean… I don’t know. I think Naoya Inoue is really disappointed, and I think he’s very, very disappointing as a champion.

The frustration by Eddie Hearn at Inoue for sidestepping Akhmadaliev thrice, according to him, fails to underscore the true culprit in this debacle; the WBA.

Since allowing Inoue to face TJ Doheny last September, Inoue was ordered by the IBF to fight Sam Goodman―an order that was free to be initiated given the WBA had not issued their own. As Inoue was allowed an exemption to fight Doheny amidst a mandate for him to face Akhmadaliev, it fell on the WBA to re-order a Inoue-Akhmadaliev bout.

Eddie Hearn Scathes Inoue For 'Ducking' Akhmadaliev image 1
Despite his WBA mandatory position, Murodjon Akhmadaliev has gotten the short end of the stick when it came to fighting Naoya Inoue, having been forced to watch at least different three opponents step in his place to face Inoue in the span of half a year. (Photo by Mark Robinson/Getty Images/Matchroom Boxing)

This mandate would never be enforced after, and with the IBF’s quick prompt to order a Inoue-Goodman bout, an order by the WBA has been long overdue. Notably, the IBF’s mandate emerged on September 12, approximately two weeks after Inoue’s September 3rd match against Doheny, which was enough time for the WBA to step in and order Inoue and Akhmadaliev to meet in the ring.

With Inoue’s recent bout against Joon Kim completed, the WBA is now finally expected to enforce their own rules to order a bout―an occurrence which could see Inoue vacate his WBA title if he were to face Picasso according to Eddie Hearn.

The WBA said, okay, we’ll allow you [Inoue] to fight Goodman. Reluctantly, that’s the second time you ducked, but after Goodman―or now this guy [Joon Kim] that you just boxed, you have to fight Akhmadaliev and we will order the fight immediately,” Eddie Hearn said in the same interview.

If you do not fight him, you’ll be stripped of the WBA title. He’s only going to fight Picasso! [Picasso] was last seen doing a little bit of pastor work somewhere, you know, on the canvas―and not the one in the ring. Oh, Picasso? What the f***!

This is outrageous. Naoya Inoue, you are disappointing. You are not the fighter that I thought you were. Akhmadaliev is now going to be the WBA champion. You have to fight him to become undisputed [again]. Fight fans need to wake up. If that was one of my fighters, or that was AJ or someone like that, oh my God you [fans] would not let it die.

If Inoue were to choose to face Alan Picasso, a rather unknown and unaccomplished contender in the 122-pound division compared to Akhmadaliev, it would clearly signal Inoue’s intent to avoid the Uzbek fighter and coul potentially result in his WBA title being revoked if the fight were to be arranged. With Akhmadaliev currently in possession of the WBA interim title, this would elevate him to full world champion.

Despite this, the scenario of Inoue vacating his belt could be avoided had the WBA not neglected to order a Inoue-Akhmadaliev after Inoue’s victory over Doheny. Even following Inoue’s recent January 24 victory, the sanctioning body has yet to step in with a mandate, creating a rather odd and unnecessary situation where Inoue is painted as a villain in a scenario where the WBA holds all the reins.

While Akhmadaliev could become a world champion, through means that would label him as an “email champion” due to not actually fighting for the belt, the WBA has seemed hellbent on deriving boxing of what is expected to be the most competitive bout in the division between Inoue and Akhmadaliev considering the pedigree and ability of both fighters.

share