Tank wishes Naoya Inoue luck… but wants to crush him

Gervonta Davis surprisingly posted a “good luck” message to Naoya Inoue today on X, wishing the unified super bantamweight champion success in his title defense against Ye Joon Kim this Friday at Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku in Tokyo, Japan .

(Credit: Naoka Fakuda)

‘Monster’ Inoue doesn’t need much luck to defeat his replacement opponent Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) isn’t in the same league talent-wise, nor is he on the level of many top 15 contenders. at 122.

Tank’s true intentions?

Fans are still wondering why Team Inoue chose Kim as a substitute after Naoya’s scheduled initial opponent, Sam Goodman, suffered a cut and had to withdraw from the fight two weeks ago. In fact, a better fighter than Kim could have been selected. It’s pretty sneaky that Gervonta tries to gain Inoue’s favor so he can fight him.

Many people find it strange that Tank supports Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) because he has wanted to fight him for years. Naoya, 31, a highly ranked pound-for-pound fighter, has shown no interest in moving up to lightweight to face Gervonta for his WBA belt.

The tank doesn’t need to mess around trying to gain favor with Inoue, hoping that if he’s nice to him, he’ll go up to 130 or 135 for a mega money fight. The Japanese star has shown his stripes. He doesn’t even want to go up to 126. If he’s not willing to go up to featherweight to take on the killer sharks in that weight class, he definitely won’t go up even further to take on a predator like Tank. Davis with no chance of winning.

Look what an old Nonito Donaire did to Naoya six years ago in their fight on November 7, 2019, fracturing his right orbital bone, cutting him above that eye, and breaking his nose. Inoue looked like she had been in a train wreck. Everything was a mess. Since then, Naoya has not taken risks in his career.

I, NAOYA INOUE, good luck, family.

—Gervonta Davis (@Gervontaa) January 23, 2025