{"id":368637,"date":"2025-12-25T20:24:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T20:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/368637\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T20:24:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T20:24:08","slug":"i-absolutely-cant-afford-to-lose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/368637\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I absolutely can’t afford to lose\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Father Time is undefeated.<\/p>\n

But at 32, Inoue is already alluding that the pesky issue around age could be catching up to him as he prepares for his fight Saturday against David Picasso<\/a> in Saudi Arabia as the headliner at “The Ring V: Night of the Samurai”<\/a> show on DAZN<\/a> PPV.
Inoue (31-0, 27 KOs) is still operating at the peak of his powers<\/a>. He is the undisputed junior featherweight champion and a perennial top pound-for-pound player.
\u201cThe Monster\u201d realizes, however, that he\u2019s not invincible like Father Time, just as a potential changing of the guard looms if he gets past Picasso to fight fellow Japanese juggernaut Junto Nakatani in May. <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely can’t afford to lose,\u201d Inoue said on DAZN’s “On The Ground” series.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy motivation comes from the position I hold in the division. I’ve achieved results that satisfy me. But now that I am 32, things start to become more apparent. The subject of retirement \u2014 the fact that I’ll retire someday \u2014 is something that’s becoming visible at this stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing booked on the same show as Junto Nakatani, the fans will be looking ahead to next year with high hopes. So I need to show them that I’m still in the mix. Both of us winning is the top priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs), a three-division champion, will be making his 122-pound debut in the co-main event <\/a>against Sebastian Hernandez. <\/p>\n

Nakatani, 27, is regarded as Inoue\u2019s successor to the throne. <\/p>\n

Inoue has held titles in four weight classes after kicking off his career at 108 pounds; he\u2019s been fighting at 122 for more than two years. He’s 7-0 in the weight class and has defended his undisputed title five times, most recently in September against Murodjon Akhmadaliev. <\/p>\n

The win against Akhmadaliev marked just the fourth time in Inoue\u2019s illustrious 13-year career that he heard the final bell. Preceding the Akhmadaliev encounter were a pair of knockdowns during a four-fight stretch. The shocking sequences kickstarted conversations questioning Inoue\u2019s chin and durability as he continued crusading in higher weight classes.<\/p>\n

As the chatter gets louder amidst dangerous challenges, Inoue\u2019s father and trainer, Shingo, is also increasingly talking about the \u201cr\u201d word as well while they prepare for Picasso (32-0-1, 17 KOs). <\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering his age, I don’t think he has much time left,\u201d said Shingo. \u201cI don’t know how many more fights there will be, but it would be good if he can just perform in those remaining fights with real intensity and conviction, without any regrets. I believe that if he does that, the results will inevitably follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inoue will be fighting for the fourth time this year after gracing the ring twice each from 2021-24. But Inoue has already stated that he\u2019ll likely fight just twice in 2026, and that the long-discussed move to 126 pounds is an afterthought now that that dangerous Nakatani waits in the wings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to featherweight, my weight isn’t quite high enough yet, and physically there are still areas of concern,\u201d said Inoue. \u201cIt’s precisely because I have these feelings of both anxiety and excitement that I want to challenge myself in those areas, too. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as I am performing at a top level, I’ve got my pride. If that sense of satisfaction, that feeling, starts fading, that’s probably when you start weakening as a fighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you stop challenging yourself, it’s over.\u201d <\/p>\n

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring\u2019s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Father Time is undefeated. But at 32, Inoue is already alluding that the pesky issue around age could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,1151,1144,1150,1149,1142,711,1145,1146,1147,1148,1143,49,48,1156,1155,1138,1136,1137,1153,1139,1135,1157,1152,82,1154,1134,1141,1140],"class_list":{"0":"post-368637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-boxing-community","10":"tag-boxing-fights","11":"tag-boxing-history","12":"tag-boxing-interviews","13":"tag-boxing-magazine","14":"tag-boxing-news","15":"tag-boxing-photos","16":"tag-boxing-rankings","17":"tag-boxing-results","18":"tag-boxing-schedule","19":"tag-boxing-videos","20":"tag-ca","21":"tag-canada","22":"tag-disqualification","23":"tag-draw","24":"tag-fight","25":"tag-fighter","26":"tag-fighter-news","27":"tag-knockout","28":"tag-latest-boxing-matches","29":"tag-ring","30":"tag-ring-magazine","31":"tag-split-decision","32":"tag-sports","33":"tag-technical-knockout","34":"tag-the-ring","35":"tag-top-fighters","36":"tag-upcoming-boxing-matches"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}