A former WBA super-bantamweight champ and the current WBA mandatory contender, Murodjon Akhmadaliev is putting yet more pressure on Japanese superstar and reigning pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue to face him in the ring. Inoue, who holds all the gold at 122 pounds, is supposedly set to face IBF mandatory Sam Goodman next (possibly on Christmas Eve) – even though in the rotation system, a WBA mandatory defense is due, not an IBF defense.
And “MJ” as Akhmadaliev is known (heck, his name sure is pretty tough to pronounce), is not happy. Speaking with RingTV.com, the former champ from Uzbekistan said he is not sure if Inoue is scared of him, or if boxing politics (the great Lennox Lewis used to call them ‘politricks’) have, and are preventing him from getting his shot at “The Monster.”
Akhmadaliev, 12-1(7) and a southpaw, was set to get his shot at Inoue, 28-0(25) earlier this year; the WBA ordered the fight. However, Inoue was instead permitted to box a voluntary defense against TJ Doheny, who Inoue stopped with relative ease in September. “MJ” strongly believes he would give Inoue a far, far tougher time of things.
“For this guy, it’s different,” Akhmadaliev said, referring to Inoue. “I don’t know if he’s scared if it’s politics or whatever. But I don’t care. The only fight at 122 that makes sense is versus me. So if Inoue doesn’t want to fight me, then vacate the title and stop calling my name. I won’t back down. We are going to push until the rules are enforced. I don’t want to have to settle for the interim title. If he has a headache or whatever other excuse, then he can go be the interim champion.”
Akhmadaliev, beaten only by Marlon Tapales, this via close, controversial decision, says he was supposed to fight the winner of the fight between Inoue and Tapales (Inoue winning by stoppage in December of 2023).
“The winner of Inoue-Tapales was supposed to fight me next,” he said. “So, he chose the WBC mandatory first (Inoue getting up from a knockdown to stop Luis Nery in May of this year). Then, he chose Doheny. Now, it sounds like he’s choosing somebody else. At this point, it doesn’t make sense.”
For so many of us, the very thought of the masterful and all-conquering Inoue being reluctant to fight anybody also makes no sense. But until “MJ” gets his shot, he will continue believing this to be the case.
Akhmadaliev bounced back from his April 2023 loss to Tapales to halt Kevin Gonzalez in December of last year, the fight a WBA eliminator. Now, the 29-year-old tells Ring, “My hands are itching to get back in the ring.” But who will be the other man in the ring with Akhmadaliev when he does return?
