Naoya Inoue Reportedly Set to Have Next 2 Fights Outside Japan, Potential Venue and Fight Card Revealed

Naoya Inoue might be the biggest draw in the boxing community right now. But chances are that you might not have heard about him or watched him live. The Japanese fighter is only the second boxer, along with Terence Crawford, to earn the undisputed crown in two distinct divisions since the dawn of the four-belt era. However, the #1 pound-for-pound fighter remains an obscure commodity outside his home nation. But that is about to change.

‘The Monster’ is coming off a sixth-round KO win over Luis Nery at Tokyo Dome before a crowd of 40,000, and the rumors of his next fight have already started gaining traction. Notably, he has only fought outside the country of the rising sun four times in his career. It seems HE Turki Alalshikh has ambitious plans for the 31-year-old to bring him to the British shores.

Naoya Inoue is ready to set Wembley on fire

TalkSports’ Michael Benson turned to his X handle and revealed that Inoue might be booked for a fight at Wembley Stadium in London. He added that the super bantamweight champion has an offer on the table from HE Turki Alalshikh to feature on the September card, which will be headlined by Anthony Joshua.

The timeline also fits with the Zama native’s plans to return to the squared circle. He might face Sam Goodman next, who is the current IBF and WBO number 1 contender. Inoue had expressed his desire to meet Goodman around September at the post-fight interview. “I’d like to have a title defense against Sam Goodman around September,” he declared.

Moreover, the victory over Nery also pushed him to the top of the BoxRec P4P list as he improved his record to 27-0. Even that wasn’t without controversy after comments from ‘Bud’ and Alalshikh. While there is still mulling over where he should go next and against whom, the probability of him going outside Japan has the boxing world divided. Top Rank’s Bob Arum holds contrary views to those of Alalshikh

Bob Arum throws cold water on the plans

The American promoter believed the “cries” for Inoue to fight outside his home country were “ridiculous.” According to him, Japan has emerged as the base of lighter-weight divisions’ champions, and in such a circumstance, it would be a foolish call. After the preflight news conference, he announced, “So from my view, it would be foolhardy for Inoue to leave Japan and fight outside of Japan. For what?”

The last time Inoue fought outside Japanese soil was in 2021 when he dismantled Michael Dasmarinas and Aran Dipaen to retain his unified bantamweight straps. It remains to be seen whether Wembley will be headlining an event on foreign soil for the fifth time.

What do you make of this update regarding Naoya Inoue? Would you like to see him fight at Wembley under the Anthony Joshua card? Let us know in the comments below.