Naoya Inoue

Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue is giving up his four bantamweight belts and plans to fight as a super bantamweight.

"The real battle starts from here," Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted Inoue as saying. He made the announcement at a news conference in Yokohama, Japan, on Friday. The undefeated Inoue holds the title belts for the WBC, WBO, IBF and WBA.

Naoya Inoue has paved the way to usher in a new era of top bantamweights as he sets his sights on becoming a four-division champion.

That would leave Butler to challenge for his old title versus number-four-ranked Reymart Gaballo, barring a massive ratings shakeup prior to the next ordered title fight. Both won separate semi-final eliminators and were prepared to fight for the interim title but will now likely meet for the real thing. Nevertheless, it’s clearly a problem for the WBC to resolve. The feat was accomplished with his eleventh-round knockout of England’s Paul Butler, adding the WBO belt to his collection of lineal, WBC, WBA and IBF titles on December 13 in Tokyo. Inoue revealed even after his repeat win over Nonito Donaire last June 9 to unify three titles that he would only stay at bantamweight long enough to collect the last belt. “In 2023, I would like to move up one weight class and challenge the super bantamweight division.

Naoya Inoue has confirmed that he will vacate his WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF world bantamweight titles and then move up to the 122-pound division this year.

"I would like to move up one weight class and challenge the super bantamweight division. "I have decided to compete in the super bantamweight division and challenge fighters who are bigger than me," Inoue said. There is nothing left to do in this bantamweight division and there is no opponent I want to fight."

Naoya Inoue has now vacated his WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO bantamweight world titles with the aim of winning belts in a new division.The 118lbs king united.

[stopped](https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/1275801/naoya-inoue-knocks-out-paul-butler-ko-highlights/) WBO champion Paul Butler to achieve his goal as undisputed champion. [Nonito Donaire](https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/687590/naoya-inoue-nonito-donaire-fight-of-the-year-highlights/) to emerge as unified IBF and WBA world champion – a three-weight king. [Inoue](https://talksport.com/topic/naoya-inoue/) could surely have won a world title in the flyweight (112lbs) division, but he instead took the opportunity to jump straight up to super-flyweight (115lbs).

During a press conference in Yokohama, Japan, Inoue, the undisputed bantamweight champion, announced his intention to become a four-division champion. That ...

With a win, one of these two could affect Inoue's plans to be the top fighter of 2023. The goal is to unify or to face a big opponent. If Vargas returns to featherweight, he will face the winner of the rumored Fulton vs. It is no surprise that Inoue is looking to stay busy in 2023. Inoue could fight Ra’eese Aleem for the WBO belt. Jason Moloney is ranked number one in the bantamweight division by the WBC and WBO. That’s the goal for any fighter, and I hopefully get to do that against Nonito Donaire." A move to a new division could mean he is ready to face WBC and WBO super-bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton. Now, a new wave of contenders will attempt to emerge from the rubble. It is now a new era for the division, as Inoue will be moving to bigger things, literally. It's the perfect match, but there's nothing left to do in this bantamweight division, and there's no opponent I want to fight.” In 2023, I would like to move up one weight class and challenge the super bantamweight division.

“The Monster” is headed up in weight, Naoya Inoue annouced today during a press conference. Inoue, who holds the WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO world titles at ...

But by most accounts, many believe Inoue will carry the weight at 122 pretty well, although there should be some real challenges along the way. Inoue, 29, is very much highly regarded around the boxing world, with him being rated as a top pound-for-pound fighter in most everybody’s list. Inoue, who holds the WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO world titles at bantamweight will give up all of the titles as he prepares to now campaign at 122 lbs.