Naoya Inoue has taken the world of boxing by storm and is now widely-recognised as a top three pound-for-pounder if not the cream of the crop. As the Japanese sensation continues to move up and conquer weight-classes, veteran promoter Bob Arum has shared his belief on how far Inoue can go and whether we will ever see him face Gervonta Davis.

‘The Monster’ began his career as a light-flyweight and won the WBC world title in just his sixth professional contest in 2014. Since then, Inoue has ever only fought in world title bouts in a run of 22 consecutive championship encounters spanning from the 108lb division to the super-bantamweight scene.

Inoue became Japan’s first undisputed champion when he knocked out Paul Butler in 2022 but it is at 122lbs where he has finally received the worldwide recognition that he deserves – mainly after a sensational win over unified champion Stephen Fulton on his debut at the weight.

Still, some fans maintain that Inoue cannot be considered as the pound-for-pound king until he fights bigger names in the sport and the 31-year-old continues to be linked to a future move up to lightweight – where he could potentially take on the self-proclaimed ‘face of boxing’ Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.

On the Cigar Talk podcast, Bob Arum shunned any chance of Inoue facing ‘Tank’ and explained that it would not be fair to force Inoue to fight as high as 135lbs when he is already at a physical disadvantage as a super-bantamweight.

“In his last few fights, he is fighting 122lb guys and he is always the smaller guy. Even when he goes to 126lbs, which they are talking about going to, he is going to be massively smaller than the fighters that he fights. When he goes up, if he goes up to 135lbs – that is not going to be fair.

“No, [there is no way that I can see the Gervonta Davis fight happening] really. The size difference is monumental.”

Whilst a clash between Inoue and Davis will not be happening any time soon, Inoue will also not be returning to fight in the United Kingdom in September, despite links that he could appear on the Anthony Joshua versus Daniel Dubois card at Wembley Stadium in three months’ time.

Instead, Inoue is poised to return to fight in Japan once again against Irish-born contender TJ Doheny – who has become a fan-favourite in Inoue’s native country. Following that outing, Inoue may appear once again in December where he would expectedly go up against undefeated Australian Sam Goodman in his final bout as a super-bantamweight.

Finally, the arguable pound-for-pound number one will make the move to the featherweight division in 2025 if all goes to plan, where he would assumably continue his remarkable run of title contests and face one of the champions at 126lbs; Luis Alberto Lopez (IBF), Rafael Espinoza (WBO), Nick Ball (WBA) or Rey Vargas (WBC).

Just two days ago analyst Stephen A. Smith was terrified of imagining Vasyl Lomachenko in the same ring as Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis. In his opinion, besides size, since the Ukrainian boxer lacked the required punching power to face ‘Tank,’ there was a great chance the boxer from Baltimore could floor ‘Loma’. Meanwhile, thinking of an apt opponent for the WBA Lightweight champion, Smith rallied for Shakur Stevenson. But unlike Smith, Shakur feels Lomachenko still has a chance against Gervonta Davis!

While Vasyl Lomachenko is near the end of his prime, Gervonta Davis is about to enter it. Added to this, as Loma is “small,” Stephen A. Smith feels Davis will knock out the Ukrainian in a compelling fight. However, Shakur Stevenson feels it is worth highlighting the experience and IQ that Lomachenko has as a boxer.

As the two-time Olympic gold medalist is 35, Shakur feels “only one or two fights [are] left in his career probably.” For the same reason, he believes if Davis and Loma must share the ring, “the time is now.” But how does Shakur think the fight will play out? In his latest interview on FightHype, the boxer from Newark confidently stated, “I still think with Lomachenko’s skills and stuff, it will still be a good fight.”

I don’t think that Lomachenko is a pushover even though he is older. With the experience he’s got and the knowledge, I think it could be a tremendous fight,” Shakur added, reasoning his answer. However, there is one thing that Lomachenko must possess. As we all have seen, Gervonta Davis is capable of throwing and landing with breathtaking power. In that sense, Shakur feels Loma can potentially beat ‘Tank’, if he can endure Davis’ shots.

“All is gonna boil down to can Lomachenko have punch resistance to what ‘Tank’ is throwing?” Shakur concluded. Meanwhile, after Bob Arum’s recent statements, the chances of Davis vs. Loma have significantly increased.

Gervonta Davis might face Vasyl Lomachenko in four months

Although Stephen A. Smith feels Gervonts Davis vs. Shakur Stevenson makes more sense, Bob Arum understands that Davis vs. Lomachenko will be huge financially. After seeing Gervonta Davis KO Frank Martin in the eighth round, Arum announced, “We’re up for that fight [Davis]. Lomachenko’s up for that.” Additionally, the CEO of Top Rank claimed that Lomachenko vs. Davis “would produce more money than a fight with Shakur.”

In this connection, Arum also hinted at a date he had in mind. While there are many possibilities, as per BoxingScene, Davis vs. Loma could take place in November or December of this year. “Everything’s up in the air. There’s a lot of possibilities,” the 92-year-old said. With that said, do you think Vasyl Lomachenko can defeat Gervonta Davis? Do you agree with Shakur on his argument? Let us know in the comments below.

Gervonta Davis is weighing up who his next opponent should be, with WBC champion Shakur Stevenson and IBF title holder Vasyl Lomachenko the leading candidates to take him on

Who next for Gervonta Tank Davis? The WBA lightweight champion doesn’t much care. He will take on anybody.

Nevertheless the obvious candidates present themselves, and if the Saudis want to extend their influence in boxing they should be on the blower immediately to WBC champion Shakur Stevenson and IBF champ Vasyl Lomachenko.

It appears the latter is closer. That would have been some battle in Loma’s peak years. Loma had almost 400 amateur fights before turning over. Had he crossed to the paid ranks even five years earlier he might have gone down as one of the greatest fighters the world has ever seen.

Stevenson is different. His contract with Bob Arum’s Top Rank has one fight to run. I doubt anyone will be rushing in to sign him because the excitement in the ring does not match his talent.

People want to be entertained. They want to see action, punches thrown. That’s why Davis is such a star. He’s aggressive and thrilling. You can’t take your eyes off him. In the early rounds last week it looked like Frank Martin was on top, but he was never truly convincing.

He could never quite push Davis back. None can. Davis is relentless, and sure enough he got through in the end, breaking Martin down and ending it in the eighth with a chilling uppercut.

Lomachenko would be the fight. He is still a great fighter. But if he stands with Tank I think he gets chinned too. And that’s some achievement.

Stevenson has a chance against Davis because of his natural speed. That’s a problem for Davis. I don’t like the way Stevenson fights but he is very effective, especially when he is wary of his opponent.

Davis is a southpaw. He comes at you, hunts you down. He is exactly the kind of boxer I tried to be. I was not the most skilful, but I was always on the front foot and people loved it.

Davis actually wants to make fights. He wants to be involved in the big nights. He is a throwback in that regard, and he believes he has the beating of everybody. I agree.

His explosiveness, brilliantly exemplified with his celebratory back flips, is some attribute to have. He can fire off shots in quick bursts and when he lands with either hand, the end is nigh.

Lightweight is probably the limit for him. There is enough meat on the bone at 135 pounds to keep him fed, and at that weight he is fully optimized. A pocket rocket as devastating as any in the ring today.

It has been reported that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is looking to inject $5 billion into boxing to create a league similar to the UFC, aiming to bring together major boxing promotions. The plan involves the Saudis purchasing minority stakes in top promotions such as Matchroom, Queensberry, and Top Rank.

Led by Turki Alalshikh, discussions are still underway, and no official comments have been made by the promoters. However, Gervonta Davis believes this initiative may face significant obstacles.

If Turki Alalshikh‘s vision comes to fruition, with support from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, it could drastically alter the boxing landscape by ensuring that top fighters compete against each other regularly.

Davis’ doubts

Currently, boxing is governed by several sanctioning bodies-WBC, IBF, WBA, and WBO-that each have their own champions, often preventing titleholders from facing off.

“I mean, that would never happen,” said a sceptical Davis.

“Because everybody don’t agree [with each other], everybody [is] not on the same page”.

The idea isn’t new, but has been hindered by promoters’ reluctance to share profits and risk their champions’ statuses. While the Saudi proposal is ambitious, it must overcome deep-seated industry fragmentation.

“We carefully planned our activities for the last six months,” Alalshikh said in May.