Do we like them?

Do we like Naoya Inoue?

Our score: 7 out of 10. Clean on harm and decent in his dealings, but the record away from the ring is thin and the Riyadh sponsorship is worth knowing about.

Inoue grew up in Kanagawa, near Tokyo, with boxing built into the household. He started at about six, after watching his father Shingo, a former amateur boxer, prepare for a tournament and asking to join in. Shingo became his trainer and, according to AP, came up with unusual drills, like pushing a car with the engine off.

He says his dad never forced him into it, and he credits that for his lasting love of the sport. Then came the climb: world titles at light flyweight, super flyweight, bantamweight and finally super bantamweight, where he is now undisputed. Fans call him The Monster for the knockouts, though he told AP he isn't called that at home.

On scandal, the cupboard is bare. My searches found no court cases against him, and no allegations of mistreating anyone. The closest thing to a stoush was a dressing-room fuss over his hand wraps before the December 2025 Riyadh fight. His team re-wrapped his hands to meet local rules and the fight went ahead on schedule, so it reads as a procedural fight and not a character stain.

On the harm check, nothing turned up. I found no remarks from him about LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants, vaccines or the climate, and no slide into conspiracy or culture-war material. The one thing to flag is money. He has fought on a Riyadh Season card and announced that Riyadh Season is sponsoring him, with its branding on his ring gear. Whether that bothers you depends on how you feel about Saudi-funded sport, but those are his business dealings and not harmful words of his own.

The Nakatani fight was the big recent moment. It was an all-Japanese blockbuster in front of roughly 55,000 people. Nakatani was taller, longer and younger and had his moments in the fifth and ninth rounds, but Inoue controlled much of the bout, with scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113. Afterwards he said “I will come back to Tokyo to fight for you again.”

For the good stuff, the best story is from 2019. After beating Donaire in the World Boxing Super Series final, Inoue let his beaten opponent borrow the Muhammad Ali trophy so he could keep a promise to his family. It's a small kindness, but it's the sort that shows how someone treats a rival when the cameras are still on.