Friday, May 2

LAS VEGAS – Naoya Inoue has the unmistakable air of a pound-for-pound superstar.

It’s an air that some of the very best fighters have at their peak – one cliched to the extent that none other than Antonio Tarver captured it effectively as Mason Dixon in Rocky Balboa – and yet it is far from consistent in every fighter considered great.

For all of his undoubted ability, if Oleksandr Usyk is the world’s finest active fighter, he has never quite had it. Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, who Usyk defeated twice to prove himself the finest heavyweight of the modern era, once did. Vasiliy Lomachenko, widely considered the world’s finest fighter until his defeat in 2020 by Teofimo Lopez, is another who never quite had it. Usyk has as much self-belief as the great Lomachenko had arrogance, and yet Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the world’s highest-profile but not very best fighter, has even had it in defeat.

It is difficult not to conclude that it is their self-belief, and perhaps above all else an awareness of their profile and fame and how people around them respond to them and also the importance they place in their images and reputations, that can define the way that those most marketable of fighters carry themselves. There is growing interest in Inoue around the world and in the US – there is considerably more marketing material surrounding Sunday’s fight on the Vegas strip than there was for that between, for example, Shakur Stevenson and Edwin de los Santos in 2023, which was also promoted by Top Rank and broadcast by ESPN (fans have gathered to attempt to see him in locations in the MGM Grand) – but in Japan he is one of their most celebrated of all athletes and it is perhaps partly that that could be detected from him from the elevated stage of the final pre-fight press conference on Thursday.

Inoue, not unlike has been seen with, particularly, Joshua and Alvarez, was immaculately groomed and dressed. Also like Joshua and Alvarez (fighters making weight often struggle to achieve that) he looked effortlessly healthy, and was relishing being on the eve of doing what he believes he does best and that for which he will forever attract the most attention.

The photogenic and marketable Emiliano Vargas – one of the sons of Fernando Vargas and who on Sunday fights Juan Leon at junior welterweight – has many of the raw materials required to potentially one day have the same air as Inoue if he proves capable of fighting anywhere near as effectively.

Inoue’s opponent Ramon Cardenas was ultimately considerably harder to read. Immediately after fights, fighters often wear sunglasses to mask the damage around the eyes; in the days beforehand, when they are wearing them it is tempting to conclude that they are struggling to make weight. The combination of Cardenas wearing dark sunglasses while chewing gum – potentially a sign of a dry mouth – may have betrayed a similar struggle. It may also be that given Inoue has gradually worked his way up to 122lbs, Cardenas is relying on his natural size advantage and attempting to retain even more size and weight.

“We thought there would be more Japanese [fans] come in from Japan,” Top Rank’s Bob Arum told BoxingScene when asked about the impact Inoue is having. “The hotels tell us that there’s a fairly large Japanese contingent, but not as many as they thought. I don’t know what the reason is – I don’t want to speculate. 

“But, otherwise, everybody has welcomed him with open arms. He’s a wonderful young man. He’s very easy to work with and talk to. It’s been a pleasure having him here.

“About 10,000 [is the expected attendance on Sunday].”

Before the conclusion of Thursday’s press conference Rafael Espinoza, who fights Edward Vazquez, had sung, and done so impressively, a song to his daughter who was present. It was his Spanish-speaking associate Scott Anthony who told BoxingScene what the song was about; Anthony also revealed that Espinoza and his wife are expecting another child in June