Naoya Inoue is Japan’s superstar known as ‘The Monster’ who Mike Tyson compared to Manny Pacquiao and has knockout power Deontay Wilder would be proud of

Naoya Inoue, one of the best fighters in boxing, a feared destroyer Mike Tyson once labelled ‘better than Manny Pacquiao’ proved once again why he's so well thought of.

He may be 5ft 5in and weighs 118lb or less, yet might well be the most devastating pound-for-pound puncher in the sport. If none of those unusual facts quite add up it’s probably because ‘The Monster’ is as freakish as his nickname suggests - just ask Nonito Donaire.

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Japan’s 22-0 bantamweight star has a KO ratio of more than 85 per cent; almost unheard of numbers for a sub-featherweight boxer who first turned pro at light-flyweight (108lb). Only three men have lasted the distance with Inoue: two were in his first 10 fights, while the other opponent is the one he beat in their rematch: the brilliant, ageless Filipino Donaire.

Their 2019 fight-of-the-year thriller did see Donaire knocked down with a sickening body shot (Inoue was bizarrely denied the chance to follow up when the referee blocked his path before Donaire sunk to the canvas). It was also the kind of elite-quality slugfest that caught the attention of Tyson, who delivered a considered technical breakdown on his podcast.

“He’s a mean mother****er,” purred ‘Iron Mike’ admiringly. “He’s better than Manny Pacquiao, man, built the same way – or just as good. He’s vicious. The monster... he’s a mean little s***.”

While the stone-faced Inoue does not have Pacquiao’s international superstardom, the three-weight world champion has been scaling pound-for-pound lists. The Ring magazine currently ranks Inoue the third best boxer in the world; ESPN has him second, as does the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. DAZN commentator Mike Costello, Britain’s voice of boxing, recently said Inoue is no.1 on his own personal pound-for-pound list.

What makes the 29-year-old so special is that his chilling knockout power is combined with the technical precision of a master boxer. Inoue’s fellow elite KO artists in the sport tend to rely on freakish, looping haymakers (Deontay Wilder), loading up on spectacular one-shot counters (Gervonta Davis) or a wearing brute strength (Artur Beterbiev).

Inoue, who boasts an incredible arsenal of punches, can knock opponents out in a variety of ways. The left hook to the liver may be his signature punch but he has every other weapon, from a pinpoint jab to textbook hooks and even the occasional triple uppercut. His KO record suggests a slugger but Inoue has a boxer-first approach. Perhaps Gennady Golovkin is the best modern comparison, a fighter owning power in each fist but with a balanced, well-schooled style.

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Still, the effects can be devastating. Jamie McDonnell, the only British boxer to fight Inoue, went to Japan to defend his bantamweight world title in 2018. McDonnell – a supremely underrated operator, even in his own country – had only been beaten twice before, early in his career and both times on points. Since then he had defended his title worldwide, from Wembley to the USA to Monaco.

Inoue crushed him inside two minutes. “I'll say now that his power is as real as it gets,” McDonnell said in the aftermath. "It's like a big thud – and it didn't even look like he was loading up when he caught me.”

The snap on Inoue’s punches, his controlled aggression and poker face all add to ‘The Monster’s' mystique. Even the best fighters in the division could not stand up to him – at least until he met Donaire in November 2019.

That war saw Inoue forced to overcome serious setbacks for the first time. In the second round, a Donaire left hook shattered his orbital bone and left Inoue seeing double for the rest of the fight. Inoue also suffered a broken nose and the bout was far more competitive than many expected, despite his knockdown of Donaire in round 11 clearly sealing Inoue’s unanimous decision victory.

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Donaire was widely viewed to be on the slide at age 36. Yet the move back down to 118lb from fighting in higher weight divisions revitalised him and ‘The Filipino Flash’ has shown that the battling display was no fluke. In two fights since, he’s scored a pair of fourth-round KOs against previously unbeaten foes in Nordine Oubaali and Reymart Gaballo, and picked up a world title belt of his own.

Now Donaire is aiming to make it a hat-trick of broken undefeated records when he meets Inoue again in an enticing unification bout. Inoue has done what’s been asked of him since beating Donaire: three stoppages in three fights, including one against top-10 contender Jason Moloney at the MGM Grand in 2020.

Yet the pandemic and the strict regulations for getting in and out of Japan have stalled the momentum of his career as he aims to become a blockbuster star outside of his native country. Are Inoue’s so-so performances since the all-action shootout with Donaire just due to a lack of motivation and not fearing the opponent in front of him? Or did the now 39-year-old Donaire crack something in Inoue’s implacable self-belief when he fired back after tasting his rival's power?

These are the questions hanging over a mouth-watering rematch. One where Inoue has the advantage in youth, power and upside; but Donaire is the bigger man, experienced and has – despite his advancing years – shown the best recent form.

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Donaire is the best modern boxer from the Philippines not named Manny Pacquiao, so it might be insulting to the future hall-of-famer to compare his opponent to the ‘Pac Man’. But Inoue is Pacquiao-like in his extraordinary power and crossover potential, even if he’s more cold-blooded assassin than rapid-fire dynamo. And Pacquiao generally had a great record in rematches, another trend Inoue will now be eager to imitate.

Inoue tends to let his fists do the talking and isn’t given to pre-fight boasting in any language. But he did offer one ominous warning before this contest. “Last time I had a gruelling fight with him,” said Inoue. “But this time, it won’t be like that.” Coming from one of the most dangerous lighter-weight punchers boxing has ever seen, it’s a threat to be taken seriously.