Japanese superstar and current super bantamweight undisputed champion Naoya Inoue has shown impeccable professionalism and delivered great performances throughout his career, but he may have suffered the first blemish in his career as the latest reports suggest he will be fighting Irishman TJ Doheny rather than Uzbeki WBA mandatory challenger Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
Last month, the World Boxing Association (WBA) ordered Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24 KO’s) and Murodjon Akhmadaliev (12-1, 9 KO’s) to face each other at super bantamweight (122 lbs), but it seems that Akhmadaliev will be stepping aside to allow Inoue to face Irish contender TJ Doheny (26-4, 20 KO’s). Akhmadaliev is currently ranked #1 in the WBA’s 122 lbs rankings, while Doheny is ranked #6.
Not long after the WBA’s mandate, Inoue seemed more interested in facing Doheny, with Top Rank co-founder Bob Arum and associate of Teiken Promotions―to which Inoue is signed―citing Doheny’s popularity in Japan as the deciding factor for his decision not to face Akhmadaliev during an interview with BoxingScene.
“Doheny has become a big, big draw over there [in Japan], and that matters. Look at what Luis Nery did as the bad boy, helping sell out the Tokyo Dome. Worse comes to worst, Inoue loses the WBA title… and that’s a, ‘who cares?’, anyway, because the plan is for Inoue to fight at 122 [lbs] this year and then move to 126 next year.”
Bob Arum
Bob Arum’s statements confirmed earlier reports suggesting Inoue was more interested in fighting another opponent than Akhmadaliev in September, and this now certainly seems the case as ESPN reported yesterday that TJ Doheny will indeed be Inoue’s opponent come September.
The report also suggested all of Inoue’s 122 lbs titles would be on the line, indicating that Akhmadaliev was offered a step-aside deal1 to allow Inoue to fight Doheny without him being stripped of his WBA title.
While Naoya Inoue, Top Rank, and Teiken Promotions could be held responsible for their decision to bypass the WBA’s mandate, the sanctioning body itself is once again demonstrating to be a poor stakeholder within boxing; having all the necessary power to enforce this mandate and dictate an ultimatum to Inoue to either face Akhmadaliev or be stripped for not doing so.
This situation also perfectly sums up the state of boxing, with sanctioning bodies once again proving unable to enforce their own rules, while fighters are also not held accountable—mostly in the media—for choosing less competitive fights. As a world and undisputed champion, Inoue should be held to the same standards as any other champion and must be required to uphold his obligations as a champion.
As there is no valid reason for Inoue not to face Akhmadaliev other than Arum purportedly claiming it is for supposed higher profit margins, there is no excuse for Inoue to face a lesser contender in Doheny rather than his mandatory.
Like Arum stated, Inoue also appears intent to move up following another fight at 122 lbs, further indicating that Akhmadaliev will not get the opportunity he deserves and will be forced to wait for a title shot―all while Doheny gets one for free while having done less to deserve the opportunity based on merit.
- A step-aside deal is a monetary agreement offered to mandatory challengers, allowing the defending champion to fight someone else, thereby granting the champion an exception through their sanctioning body ↩︎
