Naoya Inoue has carved out a big reputation over the years with boxing fans and media, and perhaps more often than not, the hardest people to truly impress are other fighters.
While Tim Bradley has been an analyst for a while, he’s always going to be more fighter than media member, and the former two-division champ came into Inoue’s Saturday fight with Jason Moloney still not totally convinced that Inoue was all he was sold to be.
After Inoue dominated and knocked Moloney out in seven rounds, Bradley expressed great admiration for the Japanese star.
“What I saw tonight, honestly — I wasn’t completely sold on Inoue (coming in), I’m gonna be honest with you,” Bradley said. “I just have to say that this guy is special. He’s special. He’s gonna reign for a very, very long time, if he stays healthy. If he can have his hands healthy as well.
“His speed, his accuracy, his counter-punching ability, it’s different. It’s not like, it’s not like everybody. It’s different.”
Bradley saw what many have seen, that Inoue isn’t just a guy who can shine big in his home country against arguably limited opposition. This is a true star fighter at 118 pounds, and it looks like you can count Tim Bradley as another fan of the “Monster,” who is now 20-0 (17 KO), the clear best bantamweight in the sport today, and a top pound-for-pound fighter without question.