What's the hangup with the Naoya Inoue vs. Junto Nakatani super-fight?

Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani acknowledge they want to fight each other.

That’s a positive development boxing fans should keep in the backs of their minds. If do they do square off — and "if" is the operative word in this sentence — Nakatani, at least on paper, appears to be the most legitimate threat among fighters at super bantamweight or lower to end Inoue’s iconic run through four divisions.

Bob Arum, Inoue’s co-promoter, suggested to Uncrowned that Inoue-Nakatani would be “the biggest fight in the history of Japanese boxing” from a business standpoint. If tickets ever go on sale for this all-Japanese showdown, Arum predicted the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome would be sold out within minutes, not hours.

But there is that potentially problematic word — “if” — once again.

Yes, Inoue and Nakatani want to fight each other. No, not anytime soon.

Therein lies the motivation among skeptics encouraging Inoue to embrace perhaps his most imposing opponent sooner than later.

Inoue intends to begin a three-fight year by knocking out South Korean underdog Ye Joon Kim on Friday night at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. BetMGM lists Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) as an unsightly 50-1 favorite over Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs), who replaced unbeaten Australian Sam Goodman on less than two weeks’ notice in this fight for Inoue’s IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO and Ring 122-pound championships.

Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) suffered a costly cut and later reopened it while sparring for his shot at Inoue’s titles, first early in December and again Jan. 11. That gash initially postponed their fight from Dec. 24 to Friday night.

Kim is 7-0 against Japanese opponents, though he obviously never faced anyone as dangerous as “The Monster.” The Seoul native also lost an eight-round majority decision three fights ago in April 2023 against an opponent, Seattle’s Rob Diezel, who entered the ring with a 14-9 record.

Ariake Arena is nonetheless sold out for this card headlined by Inoue-Kim, which will be streamed by ESPN+ in the United States early Friday morning. Ring walks for Inoue, 31, and Kim, 32, are scheduled to begin at about 6 a.m. ET.

Inoue is such a massive mainstream star in his home country, it almost doesn’t matter to legions of his most faithful fans whom he fights.

Those who reside outside of Japan seem more concerned about matching Inoue against Nakatani as soon as possible. Those impatient, shrewd enthusiasts have been disappointed entirely too many times by Arum and other promoters “marinating” mega fights that never transpire once one of the combatants either gets upset, moves up higher in weight than anticipated or ignores a credible contender altogether.

Still, Inoue has preached patience as it pertains to facing a taller, powerful southpaw who currently competes at bantamweight, four pounds below the division Inoue rules. He pointed out during a recent interview with The Ring that Nakatani knows the time isn’t quite right in 2025 for their fascinating fight.

“I’m glad he said what he said,” Inoue said. “For me, it was never really a concern or a focus because we are still at different weight classes. I know who I am going to fight this year. He has not even moved up yet, so there’s no reason for me to mention his name right now. Yes, it’s a fight that we can talk about further down the line. Right now, we both have immediate goals that don’t involve each other.”

Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs) wants to box at least once within the super bantamweight division before he challenges Inoue. The 27-year-old Sagamihara native is scheduled to fight at the 118-pound bantamweight limit at least once more on Feb. 24, when he will defend his WBO bantamweight belt against second-ranked Mexican David Cuellar (28-0, 18 KOs).

Assuming Inoue wins Friday, he is expected to defend his 122-pound crowns against an unbeaten Mexican as well. His handlers have planned for Inoue to fight in the U.S. for the first time in approximately four years in May or June against Alan Picasso (31-0-1, 17 KOs), the No. 1 contender for Inoue’s WBC championship.

Inoue, who is ranked third among Uncrowned’s top 10 pound-for-pound, last fought on American soil in June 2021. He knocked out Filipino contender Michael Dasmarinas (then 30-2-1) in the third round of their bantamweight bout at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.

Each of Inoue’s ensuing seven fights have been contested in Japan.

If Inoue beats Kim and Picasso, he will move toward a fall fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi fight financier and owner of The Ring, has brokered a deal to bring the Zama, Japan, native to boxing’s newest destination for meaningful matchups.

Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev would be the preferred opponent for Inoue in Riyadh.

Akhmadaliev (12-1, 9 KOs) owns the WBA interim super bantamweight title and is the mandatory challenger for one of Inoue’s championships. His team has been very vocal about Inoue avoiding Akhmadaliev.

An incredulous Inoue has laughed off the contention that he has ducked Akhmadaliev, primarily because he knocked out the Philippines’ Marlon Tapales (39-4, 20 KOs), who upset Akhmadaliev by split decision in April 2023.

Akhmadaliev is a southpaw, however, and Luis Nery, a left-handed fighter from Mexico, dropped Inoue in the first round of their bout May 6 at Tokyo Dome, where Mike Tyson suffered his infamous loss to 42-1 underdog James “Buster” Douglas nearly 34 years ago. Unlike Tyson, Inoue got up from that flash knockdown, punished Nery (35-2, 27 KOs) and stopped the former WBC bantamweight champ in the sixth round.

Inoue most recently dominated another southpaw, overmatched Irishman TJ Doheny (26-5, 20 KOs), on his way to a seventh-round technical knockout once Doheny’s hip injury prevented him from continuing Sept. 3 at Ariake Arena. Inoue is expected to eliminate Kim from title contention even sooner than he stopped Doheny.

His surprising loss to Tapales aside, Akhmadaliev likely would pose more of a threat to Inoue than Nery, who had been knocked out in the seventh round by former WBC super bantamweight champ Brandon Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KOs) five fights before he challenged Inoue.

Inoue's schedule would take him into 2026, and it doesn’t account for rescheduling his fight against Goodman, the mandatory challenger for Inoue’s IBF and WBO belts.

Nakatani is a 7-1 favorite to conquer Cuellar, yet he, too, would need to win at least one more bout before a fight with Inoue would become a more realistic proposition.

“Inoue and Nakatani want the fight,” Arum told Uncrowned. “We’re gonna do everything we can to make it happen. We just have to hope they keep winning.”

As the marination master well knows, though, the waiting can sometimes become the harshest part.