Naoya Inoue, just the second male boxer to achieve the rare feat of being a two-weight undisputed champion, has firmly asserted his dominance over his American counterparts. This was especially evident earlier this month during the Cinco de Mayo weekend. His performance was so commanding that even Jake Paul felt compelled to share his thoughts on the ‘Japanese Monster.’

Jake Paul, who is set to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on June 28, 2025, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, recently joined Ariel Helwani for an interview on The MMA Hour. During the appearance, Paul didn’t hold back in criticizing the recent events held in Times Square and Riyadh, which featured Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando Romero and Canelo Alvarez vs. William Scull as their respective main events.

“I come to make entertaining fights, knock people out, put people on the canvas, and I guess other people just don’t have that mentality,” Paul said. It’s worth noting that Jake Paul has had issues with ‘Cinnamon’ since their rumored fight fell apart. Instead of fighting Paul, Canelo had signed a four-fight deal with His Excellency Turki Alalshikh to fight William Scull and Terence Crawford on September 13th.

This could have caused Jake Paul to remain biased, but the Canelo-Scull fight on May 3rd has received backlash from the boxing community as well. The same was true for the Garcia-Romero event, where Garcia failed to deliver while Devin Haney’s defense-first approach put fans off. The only saving grace of the weekend came on May 4th when Inoue fought. Inoue and his opponent, Ramon Cardenas, put on a high-octane bout, where Inoue was dropped in the second round before coming back to beat Cardenas via 8th-round knockout. Even Jake Paul seems to appreciate Inoue’s performance, as he shared his verdict about the 32-year-old Japanese boxer.

When asked about Inoue’s fight, Jake Paul clarified that his criticism was solely for fights on Saturday and Sunday. “[The] Inoue fight was great, but I’m mostly speaking to Friday and Saturday that Times Square, and then [Riyadh],” Paul told Helwani. Regardless, though Paul is fighting Chavez Jr. next, his real goal seems to be facing Gervonta Davis, which he believes could be next after Davis’ rematch with Lamont Roach Jr.

Davis and Paul were close to announcing their fight in March, but after the Baltimore native failed to beat Roach Jr., producing a majority draw, the future of the Davis-Paul fight has become uncertain. In the meantime, fans might have another super fight involving Naoya Inoue coming soon.

Junto Nakatani reveals what he has to do to beat Naoya Inoue

Japan’s Junto Nakatani claims to know exactly how to beat fellow countryman Naoya Inoue, and it would take more than just a knockdown. During a recent interview with The Ring, the undefeated WBC bantamweight champion reflected on Inoue’s knockdowns against Luis Nery and Ramon Cardenas, warning that knocking down Inoue isn’t enough.

“He has the experience from getting knocked down and getting back up and winning a fight. That’s a credit to him,” Nakatani said. “If I knock him down, I have to make sure that he doesn’t get back up.” However, before Nakatani can even think about dethroning Japan’s best boxer, he will have to deal with IBF champion Ryosuke Nishida on June 8 in a unification bout. A win there would take Nakatani one step closer to his dream fight against Inoue.

Having said that, for someone like Jake Paul to praise Naoya Inoue shows the impact the Japanese boxer has had in the American boxing scene. While fighters here in the States continue to disappoint, it would take someone like Inoue to bring back the spark that has been missing. What’s your take on Inoue?