Naoya Inoue

Naoya Inoue (井上 尚弥, Inoue Naoya, born 10 April 1993) is a Japanese professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, and is one of only three male boxers in history (along with Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk) to become the undisputed champion in two weight classes in the "four-belt era". Nicknamed "Monster", Inoue is known for his exceptional punching power, possessing a knockout-to-win percentage of 88.88%, and 90.90% in world title matches.

He is the first and only boxer to win the undisputed championship at super bantamweight, having held all four major titles since 2023, as well as the Ring magazine title. Previously he held the undisputed championship at bantamweight between 2019 and 2023, becoming the first undisputed bantamweight champion since Enrique Pinder in 1972, and the first boxer in history to do so in the four-belt era. Earlier in his career he held the World Boxing Council (WBC) light flyweight title in 2014, and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior bantamweight title from 2014 to 2018. Inoue has also held the lineal championship at bantamweight and super bantamweight, and won the 2018–2019 World Boxing Super Series bantamweight tournament.

As of May 2024, Inoue is ranked as the world's second best active boxer, pound for pound, by The Ring; the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA); the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB); and BoxRec; and third best by ESPN. He is also ranked as the world's best active super bantamweight by The Ring, TBRB, ESPN, and BoxRec. Inoue is the only Japanese boxer in history to be ranked No. 1 pound for pound by The Ring, TBRB, and was named Fighter of the Year in 2023 by The Ring, BWAA, and ESPN.