Murodjon Akhmadaliev knew he had a big fight on his hands. All he had to do was keep winning and eventually, a showdown against Naoya Inoue was bound to happen.
Ultimately, keeping that victory parade alive was a lot easier said than done. Akhmadaliev went from an active schedule to making just one appearance in 2022. On top of that, he came up short. With a loss to Marlon Tapales, the Filipino native took his spot as one of the best super bantamweights in the world.
Inoue, after violently taking care of business against Stephen Fulton, needed those final two belts in Tapales’ possession to become a back-to-back undisputed champion. Although he didn’t give them up without a fight, Tapales was eventually relieved of his championship duties via 10th-round stoppage.
Akhmadaliev sits back and thinks to himself at times. He wonders what went wrong in his showdown against Tapales and he’s trying to wrap his head around being introduced as a former world champion.
Getting back to the top of the super bantamweight mountain won’t be easy but that path is crystal clear. Inoue has all of the major hardware, so a fight with him is what Akhmadaliev (12-1, 9 KOs) wants above all else.
Now of course, cynics will point to Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) stopping Tapales and Akhmadaliev losing to Tapales via split decision, as a way to say he has no chance at beating Inoue. It makes sense, at least to a certain degree, but Akhmadaliev is willing to bet whatever is in his bank account that he’ll challenge the pound-for-pound star more than anyone ever has.
“Inoue is a true master,” wrote Akhmadaliev on his social media account recently. “But I’m smarter, better, and stronger than anyone he ever faced! It will be a great fight! Let’s go champ!”
By Hans Themistode