Inoue Not P4P No. 1, Says Former Opponent Nonito Donaire

Former world champion Nonito Donaire shared his thoughts on the current pound-for-pound rankings — and despite having faced him twice, he does not place Naoya Inoue at the top.

“I’ve always had him behind Crawford and Usyk, because the level of opposition was different. Yes — Fulton, myself, Luis Nery — we’re good fighters. But it’s not the same as what Usyk did: he dominated his division by beating the best, and then moved up and did the same thing.

Sure, the opposition is different, but Inoue cleaned out his division, and that matters too. People judge fighters by the names on their résumé, but when you compare it to Usyk’s or Crawford’s, Inoue is in the conversation — I just don’t think he surpasses them,” said Donaire.

Donaire and Inoue fought twice — Inoue won both by decision and stoppage, respectively. In his most recent bout, Inoue scored an 8th-round KO over Ramon Cardenas, who later praised Inoue’s timing as his greatest weapon.