It’s easy in sport, particularly boxing, to pick the favorite. Especially when that favorite is a pound-for-pound sensation, a considerable puncher among their weight class, and, arguably, at the peak of their powers.
That’s the position Naoya Inoue finds himself a little more than a week away from arguably the toughest test of his pro career, against fellow P4P caliber opponent, Junto Nakatani. The pair collide in one of the most gripping all-Japanese encounters of the modern era on May 2 at the Tokyo Dome.
Many will pick Inoue to retain his crown as the best from his region, if not the entire world.
Robert Garcia is not necessarily one of those people.
One of the world’s best boxing coaches and minds, Garcia recently appeared on The Spit Bucket Podcast to offer his take and insight on the Inoue vs Nakatani showdown.
“Nakatani is going to put up a great fight, he has got great power, and Inoue has been dropped a couple of times,” he said, as reported by Boxing Social.
“I don’t think that the fighters that Inoue has been dropped by are as good or have as much power as Nakatani has.”
Garcia expects an incredible fight … yet still sides with Inoue.
Alan Dawson is Boxing Social’s editor.
He is also a columnist for Uncrowned at Yahoo Sports, and the founder-moderator of Boxing Twitter — a 20,000-strong community on X.
A 17-year sports media veteran, Alan has enjoyed extensive stints at Business Insider as a correspondent, BT Sport as digital editor, and Give Me Sport as combat sports editor.
He is a 2-time Sports Journalist of the Year finalist and has been honored six times by the Boxing Writers Association of America.
Alan grew up near London but is based in Nevada with his young family. Outside boxing he plays 8-handicap golf, hikes, and rides his ebike through the Sierra mountain trails.
View all articles →