Three days before Naoya Inoue’s May 4th win over American contender Ramon Cardenas, an apparent deal to fight Murodjon Akhmadaliev had already been signed and sealed according to Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn. With the conclusion of a roughly one-year saga that prevented the undisputed 122 lbs champion Inoue and a top-rated contender [and former world champion] in Akhmadaliev from fighting in the ring, a fight that has been long overdue will finally occur.
Murodjon Akhmadaliev (13-1, 10 KO’s), the former holder of the WBA and IBF super bantamweight (122 lbs) titles, is regarded as one of the best contenders in the division. Despite having been ordered last year to fight Akhmadaliev, Naoya Inoue (30-0, 27 KO’s) has inadvertently raised the Uzbek fighter’s danger factor after choosing to fight three different opponents rather than his mandatory in Akhmadaliev.
Inoue’s decisions, largely borne out of the WBA’s inability to re-order a Inoue-Akhmadaliev bout after the Japanese champion first chose to face Irishman TJ Doheny (26-6, 20 KO’s), have created a bigger fight than intended with Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn having fanned the flames of the upcoming duel by accusing Inoue of “ducking” Akhmadaliev.
The fact the fight is now a “done deal”, as Hearn suggested on May 1st, didn’t exactly clear things up as details surrounding the fight remain scarce; including whether it will be promoted by Inoue’s American-based promoter Top Rank or Matchroom, and if the fight is set to transpire on a Riyadh Season– or The Ring– sponsored card. However, based on a prior announcement of The Ring, September 14 is the expected date for a bout between Inoue and Akhmadaliev.
Though the fight location of the supposed finished deal between Inoue and Akhmadaliev remains a mystery, a press conference is likely in the works for this month or the next that will answer all the questions surrounding the fight’s date, location and supplementing undercard.
What is clear is that the fight will be counted as one of Naoya Inoue’s more significant fights, even after he beat a slew of super bantamweight champions and contenders alike. With the 122-pound division having never been established as particularly noteworthy, with only Stephen Fulton (23-1, 8 KO’s) and Murodjon Akhmadaliev considered as genuine threats given they were the only champions in the division, Inoue’s arrival has not helped clear up the exact competition level before and after he scooped all of the super bantamweight titles.
As a former unified champion that has faced several notable contenders in title defenses, Akhmadaliev might now conceivably be considered the best available contender due to his pedigree and slow climb up to become a mandatory contender and WBA interim champion after he lost both his WBA and IBF titles to Marlon Tapales (40-4, 21 KO’s) in 2023 ― the same Tapales who Inoue would become undisputed against in that same year.
But whether Akhmadaliev poises more of a threat now as a contender rather than unified champion sets the stage for plenty of intrigue for their upcoming September 14 fight, and will surely count as Inoue’s most relevant fight since becoming undisputed two years ago.
