Hearn Fumes As Inoue Refuses Akhmadaliev Fight, Cites Tapales Loss

Naoya Inoue fired back at promoter Eddie Hearn and the fans that he’s running from his #1 WBA contender, Murodjon Akhmadaliev. The Japanese star Naoya feels there’s no pressing need for him to defend his four super bantamweight titles against Murodjon, especially with his loss a year ago against one of his victims, Marlon Tapales, on April 8, 2023.

Hearn looked like he was in a rage last Saturday night, calling out Naoya to defend against Akhmadaliev next following the 2016 Olympian’s third-round knockout victory over tune-up opponent Ricardo Espinoza (30-5, 25 KOs) at the Salle des Étoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco.

During the post-fight interview, Matchroom promoter Hearn wagged his finger, lecturing Inoue, blabbering about “Uzbek power” and other nonsense to argue that the Japanese star needed to defend against Akhmadaliev. Of course, it’s not Naoya’s fault he failed in his fight against Tapales. If Murodjon had done what he was supposed to against Tapales, there wouldn’t have been a problem.

The “Zero Need” Remark 

Espinoza, 27, wasn’t a top-tier opponent, and he was brought in to make Akhmadaliev look like pure 24k gold, which he did. Inoue wasn’t fooled. He saw the fight for what it was and wasn’t going to come to heel, volunteering to give the Hearn-promoted former IBF and WBA 122-lb champion Akhmadaliev the fight he was demanding.

Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) says there’s “zero need” for him to fight Akhmadaliev (13-1, 10 KOs) for these reasons:

1. Lost to Marlon Tapales
2. Akhmadaliev needs to keep value
3. Must wait
4. Naoya Already has a fight scheduled against Sam Goodman

Inoue is defending his undisputed super bantamweight championship against #1 IBF and 1 WBO contender Sam Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) next month on January 24th at the Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, in Tokoyo, Japan. Inoue was originally supposed to fight Goodman on December 24th in that location, but the Aussie suffered a cut over his right eye in his last sparring session. The fight needed to be postponed.

“Why do I have to run away from someone who lost to Tapales? 🤷‍♂️ There’s zero need for it…If you want to fight, keep the “value” of winning and wait!! Now I’m fully focused on the Goodman fight. @AkhmadalievMj,” said Naoya Inoue on X, giving his reasons for swerving a fight against his #1 WBA contender