Hearn angry when Inoue rejects Akhmadaliev fight, cites Tapales loss

Naoya Inoue has responded to promoter Eddie Hearn and fans that she is running away from her WBA number one contender Murodjon Akhmadaliev. Japanese star Naoya feels there is no urgent need to defend his four super bantamweight titles against Murodjon, especially after his loss a year ago against one of his victims, Marlon Tapales, on April 8, 2023.

Hearn appeared to be furious Saturday night, calling out Naoya to defend against Akhmadaliev following the 2016 Olympian’s third-round knockout victory over warm-up opponent Ricardo Espinoza (30-5, 25 KOs) at La Salle des Étoiles. Monte Carlo, Monaco.

During the post-fight interview, Matchroom promoter Hearn wagged his finger, lecturing Inoue and babbling about “Uzbek power” And other nonsense to argue that the Japanese star needed to defend himself against Akhmadaliev. Of course, it’s not Naoya’s fault that he failed in his fight against Tapales. If Murodjon had done what he was supposed to do against Tapales, there would have been no problem.

The observation of “zero need”

Espinoza, 27, was not a top-tier opponent and was brought in to make Akhmadaliev look like pure 24-karat gold, which he did. Inoue was not fooled. He saw the fight for what it was and was not going to give in, volunteering to give former IBF and WBA 122-pound champion Akhmadaliev, promoted by Hearn, the fight he was demanding.

Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) says there is “zero need” for him to fight Akhmadaliev (13-1, 10 KOs) for these reasons:

1. Lost to Marlon Tapales
2. Akhmadaliev needs to maintain courage
3. must wait
4. Naoya already has a fight scheduled against Sam Goodman

Inoue will defend his undisputed super bantamweight championship against IBF #1 and WBO #1 contender Sam Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) next month on January 24 at the Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, in Tokyoyo, Japan. Inoue was originally supposed to fight Goodman on December 24 at that venue, but the Australian suffered a cut to his right eye in their final sparring session. It was necessary to postpone the fight.

“Why do I have to run away from someone who lost to Tapales? 🤷‍♂️ There is no need to do it… If you want to fight, keep the “value” to win and wait!! Now I’m completely focused on the fight with Goodman. @AkhmadalievMj,” said Naoya Inoue in unknowngiving his reasons for diverting a fight against his WBA number one contender