The Monster in particular showed something new by getting off the canvas in the First Round and then absolutely crushing the challenge of Luis Nery- it really feels like the only way Inoue will lose is when he moves up to a weight Division too high.
He looks set to defend his Undisputed Super Bantamweight World Titles once more later this year, but the expectation is that Naoya Inoue will then look upwards at the Featherweight Division, which is lacking a dominant Champion. Some have suggested he should be thinking about fighting Gervonta Davis, but that sounds like talk from those who want to see Inoue beaten and Featherweight may be the limit.
Next weekend we will have another entry to challenge for top spot in the pound for pound Rankings when the Undisputed Heavyweight World Title is decided, while Terence Crawford will get a chance to make his own case in early August. The positive for us Boxing fans is that the elite fighters are getting out there and taking on challenges and we are right in the midst of what should be a very good run of fights.
A former pound for pound Number 1 Ranked fighter is going to be the focus of this weekend when Vasyl Lomachenko returns against a former Unified Lightweight World Champion in front of the latter's home fans. We also have a couple of decent cards in the United Kingdom before the focus of the Boxing world will turn to Saudi Arabia and the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk Heavyweight Fight next weekend.
Vasyl Lomachenko vs George Kambosos Jr
As mentioned about Naoya Inoue, the feeling about Vasyl Lomachenko was that he would be unbeaten until he took on much bigger opponents when his own power might not have stacked up as it had at a natural weight class.
There is no doubting the qualities that Lomachenko still has, even when moving as high as Lightweight, and his defeats have been a touch controversial to both Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney.
Inactivity and age are perhaps just as big an opponent as anyone Vasyl Lomachenko will face in the ring these days and he has not faced anyone since a very tight Decision loss to Haney, a fight that it felt he had done enough to earn the nod.
The Ukrainian certainly felt the same late in the fight as he took a Round or two off, but that cost Lomachenko and was perhaps a sign that Hi-Tech is not at an age when his activity cannot be sustained at the level it was during his peak. He has only Stopped one opponent in five years and fights have been competitive enough for George Kambosos Jr to come into this one with some confidence.
It is a crossroads fight for both- there is a major potential prize on the line for the winner with talk about facing Shakur Stevenson later in the year, but a defeat will make it very difficult to find a good path for either Lomachenko or Kambosos Jr.
It is a crossroads fight for both- there is a major potential prize on the line for the winner with talk about facing Shakur Stevenson later in the year, but a defeat will make it very difficult to find a good path for either Lomachenko or Kambosos Jr.
George Kambosos Jr won a Split Decision against Teofimo Lopez in the next fight the latter had after beating Lomachenko, but he as convincingly beaten twice by Devin Haney before a controversial win over Maxi Hughes last year. Even after his win over Lopez, many doubted how good Kambosos Jr is and those three performances have done nothing to silence those doubters.
He is solid and willing to leave it all in the ring, but George Kambosos Jr is someone who doesn't have 'special' qualities in anything he does and it does feel like he took advantage of facing Teo Lopez at a good time. All credit has to be given, not taken away, for winning the fight, but Kambosos Jr has struggled since then and it feels like he will need to have Vasyl Lomachenko slipping off a cliff in order to win this one.
The IBF World Title will be on the line for both and the potential for a Unification later in the year provides massive motivation for both and the home crowd can pump George Kambosos Jr forward. That was not enough against Devin Haney, but this will likely be closer knowing that Vasyl Lomachenko can take a bit of time to warm up and is not fighting at the kind of pace he did a few years ago.
I would still expect Vasyl Lomachenko to do enough to take this on the cards- he is not expected to stop the tough Australian on his home soil, but Lomachenko should clearly win Seven Rounds.
Barring Father Time showing his hand in the ring on fight night, Vasyl Lomachenko may just find a Unanimous Decision that will set him up for one last bid to move towards Undisputed, which has been a target for him ever since moving into the 135 pound Division.
Unsurprisingly the undercard of the event in Perth is going to feature a lot Australian fighters.
Imam Khataev was born in Russia, but lives in Sydney and is looking for his seventh professional win as he steps up to take on veteran Ricards Bolotniks, who is well known to British fight fans.
The home fighter is yet to hear the bell for the Fourth Round, but the veteran skills of Bolotniks may force Imam Khataev to show something new. However, the Latvian has been wearing down and the feeling is that Khataev will be able to keep his run of Knock Out wins moving forward, albeit in the second half of this one.
We should also see Joseph Goodall return to winning form having been blown out by Efe Ajagba in the United States in November.
The opponent, Faiga Opelu, has been Stopped three times previously, including in a single Round by Joseph Parker last year and Goodall might just have too much early firepower for him here.
We should have Andrew Moloney in a chief support position on the card and he will be looking to help the family name bounce back after his brother, Jason, was beaten in Japan on the Naoya Inoue-Luis Nery undercard this past Monday.
I really thought Andrew Moloney's career was effectively over after a brutal beatdown and then Knock Out at the hands of Junto Nakatani, but he has a chance to win an Interim Super Flyweight World Title this weekend and bounced back from that loss with a win at the end of 2023.
He is facing a tough veteran, but the feeling is that Moloney may be able to do enough to win this one on the cards and open the doors for at least one or two more fights at the elite level.
The two United Kingdom cards are going to be a chance for fighters to continue pushing up the levels, although the main focus may be a massive crossroads fight in the Middleweight Division.
It is a domestic fight between Denzel Bentley and Danny Dingum, two Boxers who came up short against Janibek Alimkhanuly at World level.
Out of the two, Bentley certainly showed a lot more than Dingum and the former has been in with the better class of opponent in their careers.
Disappointingly, Denzel Bentley was well beaten by Nathan Heaney in his last bout and lacked any kind of intensity on the night. Ultimately it has come out that Bentley was dealing with serious issues outside of the ring, which had sapped focus, and he has been speaking about being much more ready to compete now.
Danny Dingum has won a couple of low-key fights since being blown away by Alimkhanuly, but he has been relatively inactive with his last fight being in April 2023.
There has been a suggestion that Dingum has thought about calling time on his career and Denzel Bentley hits hard enough to push him through that door. The former British Middleweight Champion can just remind people of the talent he has and Denzel Bentley may get on top very early in this one at the famous York Hall.
MY PICKS: Vasyl Lomachenko to Win by Unanimous Decision @ 1.91 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Imam Khataev to Win Between 6-10 @ 3.50 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Joseph Goodall to Win Between 1-5 @ 2.87 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Denzel Bentley to Win Between 1-6 @ 2.40 Bet365 (2 Units)
Boxing 2024: 19-28, + 14.87 Units (66 Units Staked, + 22.53% Yield)
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