By: Sean Cross
Twenty-three wins. Zero losses. All but three of the wins have come via knockout. Naota Inoue certainly has a shocking history. But this is no sealed record. In a career that spanned a decade, the man known as “The Monster” took on big names in some of the sport’s lower weight divisions, going on to win world titles at junior flyweight, super flyweight and bantamweight. Now, closing in on his thirties, Inoue faces the thirty-four-two Paul Butler in his native Japan on Tuesday.
WBO bantamweight title holder Paul is no slouch. The Englishman is effectively a patient boxer and an excellent counter puncher. Still, Inoue is a popular walk-in Tuesday — and for good reason. For it is difficult not to see the person working without being impressed. The IBF, WBA, and WBC bantamweight champion clearly has impressive grounding skills, but what is known about Inoue is that he doesn’t think too much in the ring where he performs, he seems to be on autopilot.
That’s not a criticism. On the contrary, it is a display of the man’s natural talent, which is clearly a skill honed by a great deal of hard work. There’s a reason Inoue appears at or near the top of many pound for pound lists – because he’s there. With that in mind, shocking things happen in seemingly normal situations in boxing. Butler will make a name for himself in the fight world on Tuesday when he takes on Buster Douglas against Inoue’s Mike Tyson (a Tyson-Douglas relegation). However, to pull off such a dramatic upset, Butler will have to do less than a monster effort against Inoue.
