“I don’t know. If there’s enough demand, I think a second fight is possible,” said Naoya Inoue. “I have options ahead. It’s a blank slate.”
The problem is that the first fight didn’t leave fans asking for more. It was competitive, but cautious. Long stretches passed without either man committing to exchanges. Nakatani stayed upright and mechanical, working behind a tight structure without adjusting when rounds started slipping away.
The greed and lack-of-ambition tags usually come up when fans feel a great fighter is protecting their zero rather than chasing history. By suggesting he has a blank slate but still mentioning Nakatani, Inoue is basically testing the waters to see if he can get away with one more big domestic payday before the real risks begin at 126.
If Inoue wants to cement himself as the greatest of this era, he has to deal with the physical nightmares waiting at featherweight: Rafael Espinoza, Brandon Figeora, Bruce Carrington, and Angelo Leo.
The criticism some fans have of Nakatani as one-dimensional or mechanical is harsh, but Saturday didn’t do much to dispel it. While he showed great mental stamina, his inability to switch plans when Inoue’s jab neutralized him is exactly why people are roasting the idea of a sequel. If he couldn’t adjust in the first 12 rounds, it’s hard to sell the public on the idea that he’ll have the code for the second.
Interestingly, there’s already talk of a massive shift in direction. With Turki Alalshikh in attendance on Saturday, the whispers have already started about a potential mega-fight with Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez for early 2027. If that’s the “different stage” Inoue was hinting at, it might satisfy the fans’ hunger for a true pound-for-pound challenge, even if it isn’t at 126 just yet.
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