‘Really scary’ – Naoya Inoue recalls last defeat as he opens up on fear of losing

Naoya Inoue has never lost as a professional, but he is familiar with the gutwrenching feeling from his vested days.

‘The Monster’ has proven to be one of the most formidable fighters in modern boxing during a unblemished 31-0 career.

Naoki Fukuda

There is a strong argument to be made that the Japanese powerhouse should be ranked No.1 in the pound-for-pound rankings – so impressive is his body of work.

Besides a handful of early fights, Inoue has outclassed and knocked out the majority of his opponents en route to becoming a four-weight world champion and two-weight undisputed champion.

However, he wasn’t always an unbeatable force.

As an amateur, he compiled a 75-6 record, but narrowly missed out on a place at the 2012 Olympics after falling to a 16:11 defeat against Birzhan Zhakypov of Kazakhstan in the final of the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament in April 2012.

Inoue was just 18 years old at the time, while Zhakypov was a fully fledged 27-year-old man.

It marked Inoue’s last defeat, and it has spurred him on for the last 13 years.

“Of course I remember the match,” Inoue told talkSPORT.com.

“At the time, I was in high school, and my condition was not perfect.

“But I had the confidence that if I had entered the next Olympics, then I would have made it.”

Most fighters, whether they care to admit it or not, are fuelled by a fear of losing.

AFP

Inoue is no different.

“Of course, the fear of losing is really scary,” added Inoue.

“But it doesn’t make sense to worry about it, so what I do is try to give my best effort to not lose.”

What did Birzhan Zhakypov achieve?

While Inoue has gone on to have a fantastic professional career, which resumes on December 27 when he makes the sixth defence of his undisputed super bantamweight crown against Alan Picasso, Zhakypov remained in the amateurs until his retirement in 2016.

After qualifying for the London Olympics with a win over Inoue, Zhakypov beat France’s Jérémy Beccu and the Philippines’ Mark Anthony Barriga before coming up short to eventual gold medalist Zou Shiming of China.

Shiming became a thorn in Zhakypov’s side throughout his career, knocking him out of the 2008 Olympics and besting him in the 2010 Asian Games gold medal bout.

However, in 2013, the Chinese technician turned over as a professional, as Zhakypov scooped gold at the World Championships in the defining moment of his tenure in boxing.