Naoya Inoue vs Murojdon Akhmadaliev Preview September 14th, 2025
Unbeaten, undisputed Super Bantamweight Champion Naoya Inoue of Japan will enter the ring in Nagoya this Sunday, September 14th to defend his titles against former IBF and WBA Super Bantamweight Champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan. The 12-round contest can be seen live on Lemino in Japan while those with access to the channel in other parts of the world can see it on ESPN Knockout beginning at approximately 4am ET. Inoue last fought in May when he picked himself up from the canvas in the second round and came storming back to drop Ramon Cardenas in the seventh round and stop him in the eighth. Akhmadaliev last saw action in May as well when he halted Luis Castillo in the eighth round.
Inoue vs Cardenas Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Murodjon Akhmadaliev +628
- Naoya Inoue -1200
My Pick
The 32-year-old Inoue is just the second male Japanese boxer to win world titles in four weight divisions to join Kazuto Ioka in that feat. Inoue was also a world beltholder at 108, 115 and 118 lbs and has been an undisputed champion in two different divisions. As a bantamweight, Inoue fought in the World Boxing Super Series Bantamweight Tournament and won the IBF belt when he stopped Emmanuel Rodriguez in the second round in May, 2019.
Six months later he beat Nonito Donaire by unanimous decision in a classic battle to capture the tournament as well as Donaire’s WBA Super World Belt. Inoue had originally won the regular WBA title in May, 2018 when he stopped Jamie McDonnell in 112 seconds. After beating Donaire, Inoue defended the belts against Jason Moloney, Michael Dasmarinas and Aran Dipaen with stoppages in the seventh, eighth and third rounds respectively.
Inoue and Donaire met in a long-awaited rematch in June, 2022 with Inoue adding the WBC Bantamweight Title to his collection when he stopped the Filipino Flash in the second round. He then became undisputed with an 11th-round stoppage of Paul Butler in December, 2022. He enters the ring this Sunday with a perfect mark of 30-0 with 27 Ko’s. Inoue is also a former WBO Jr. Bantamweight and WBC Junior Flyweight Titleholder who has all the tools to be considered one of the world’s top pound-for-pound boxers. He stands 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 67.5-inch reach.
Inoue defended his Junior Bantamweight Crown seven times before moving up in weight. The Japanese star became a world champion in just his sixth pro fight when he stopped Adrian Hernandez in the sixth round for his WBC Junior Flyweight Belt in May, 2014. He defended it once then moved up to super flyweight and took the title from Omar Narvaez by second-round KO in December, 2014. More recently, he stopped former world champion TJ Doheny in the seventh round in August 2024 and halted ye Joon Kim in the fourth round this January to defend his Super Bantamweight Belts.
The Japanese star was dropped for the first time in his career in the first round by Luis Nery in May, 2024 but then decked Nery in the second and fifth rounds before stopping him in the sixth. Inoue had halted Marlon Tapales in the 10th round for the WBA and IBF Belts in December, 2023 and the former Undisputed Bantamweight King stopped Stephen Fulton in the eighth round five months earlier to take his WBO and WBC titles. Known as ‘The Monster,’ Inoue has been a sensation in his homeland since turning pro in 2012 and has boxed 181 rounds since.
He’s got dynamite in his fists with an 90 per cent knockout ratio but also has fine boxing skills. Inoue has stopped his last 11 opponents and has gone the distance just once since mid-2016, which was the first fight against Donaire in 2019, but he did drop him in the 11thround. Inoue enjoyed a fine amateur career and is now 25-0 with 22 Ko’s in world title fights. He’s also beaten the likes of Juan Carlos Payano, Ryoichi Taguchi, Kohei Kono, Antonio Nieves, David Carmona and Ricardo Rodriguez. He’s also 13-0 with 11 Ko’s against current or former world champions in Doheny, Nery, Tapales, Fulton, Butler, Donaire, Rodriguez, Taguchi, Hernandez, Narvaez, Kono, McDonnell and Payano.
The 30-year-old Akhmadaliev is a southpaw who makes the ring walk with a mark of 14-1 with 11 Ko’s and also possesses a lot of power as 78.6 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage with three of his last eight outings going the distance. He made his pro debut in 2018 and has 100 rounds of experience under his belt. He enjoyed a successful amateur career as he won a bronze medal in the bantamweight division at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil after losing to Robeisy Ramirez in the semifinals and a silver at the 2015 World Amateur Championships in Doha, Qatar where he was beaten in the final by Ireland’s Michael Conlan.
Akhmadaliev, who now fights out of Indio, California, reportedly reportedly went 300-20 as an amateur with 80 Ko’s. He also won silver at the 2012 World Youth Championships and was the Uzbekistan National Champion in 2013 and 2014. He was the silver medallist at the 2015 Asian Championships and won gold at the same event two years later. He gained experience by boxing for the Uzbek Tigers in the 2016 and 2017 World Series of Boxing (WSB). Akhmadaliev stands just over 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 68-inch reach so has a minimal half-inch edge in height and reach on Inoue.
Since turning pro, Akhmadaliev has brought his power along for the ride. He stopped Isaac Zarate in the ninth round for the WBA Inter-Continental Super Bantamweight Title in November, 2018 in his first defence after halting Ramon Contreras in just 80 seconds three months earlier to win the vacant crown. In his eighth pro fight, Akhmadaliev beat Danny Roman by split decision in 2020 to win his world titles and defended them against Ryosuke Iwasa by fifth-round stoppage in April, 2021 then beat Jose Velasquez by unanimous decision in November, 2021.
He halted Ronny Rios in the 12th round in June, 2022 but lost his belts in April, 2023 when he dropped a controversial split decision to Marlon Tapales. He bounced back with an eighth-round TKO over Kevin Gonzalez in December, 2023 and then halted Ricardo Espinoza Franco in the third round last December before stopping Castillo in May. He doesn’t have a wealth of experience in the pro ranks against the upper echelon just yet but his wins over Castillo, Gonzalez, Roman, Iwasa, Velasquez and Rios were all impressive while his loss to Tapales could have gone either way.
Prediction…
This is a matchup boxing fans are happy with as Inoue is arguably facing his toughest opponent to date, at least since meeting Stephen Fulton anyway. Inoue is one of the world’s most feared and top pound-for-pound boxers and Akhmadaliev comes close to matching him in certain areas such as power and speed. Inoue has been susceptible to left hooks lately as Luis Nery and Ramon Cardenas both dropped him early in their fights. However this simply put Inoue in a bad mood and he took it out on his opponents once he picked himself up from the canvas. While Inoue possesses fine boxing skills, IQ and power he certainly can’t afford to take anybody lightly after being dropped and struggling somewhat against TJ Doheny. Still, he’s a fantastic body puncher who changes angles, speed and power when letting his hands go. Akhmadaliev has a legitimate shot here as he has power and a solid chin but he can be outboxed. Of course with Inoue a stoppage is never a bad bet but this should be a close fight with Akhmadaliev having his moments.
Inoue’s power and boxing skills should get the job done.
Play Inoue -1200 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Murodjon Akhmadaliev betting • Naoya Inoue betting