The Fight #87 LNT

We break down the weekend of the monsters, from Naoya Inoue’s high-skill win over Nakatani to David Benavidez’s statement night and another loud callout of Canelo. We argue about style, range, judging, PED stains on legacies, and what boxing promoters get wrong when they chase control over credibility.

Transcript

Weekend Of The Monsters

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It's uh Lane LA, the fight, episode 88. Listen, if you're a boxing fan, this is the weekend of the monsters, okay? In a way, and Benavidez told us just how monsters they can be and just how they earned those titles. Let's get into the NOA fight immediately. Let's get into it. Takuma in a way gets the UD and drops his opponent two times. This is the brother of Inouway, the main car fighter. Okay, and we get into the match with him and Nakatani, you know, in a way versus Nakatani. This was the crime to the crime of high-level boxing. It was exactly what I thought it was going to be: a chess match, a game of inches, a game of explosion, a game of imposing will. Because I think a lot of people don't understand. Like, your style is your style. And if I'm fighting my style and you're not fighting your style, then I'm winning. And in a way, he had Nakatani fight in a style that wouldn't let him win. It'll let him win a couple rounds, but it wouldn't let him win the fight. In a way, controlled the range in the distance much better than I thought he was going to be for him being a smaller fighter. Nakatani didn't use his reach, he didn't use his height to the waves, to the ability that I thought he could. He did it in spot. He took rounds, and it was a great fight, but in a way, comfortably won rounds as well. And I think, you know, there has to be some make it or break it type energy in the arena or in the fighter where you're down so many rounds. You know, we had as fans, we all wanted to see this fight, right? We all wanted to see this fight. Who's the greatest boxer in Japan? This is a big, big moment and statement for Inoue. And I'm I'm very excited because he did get past his largest test, but he has another one. They want him to fight Bam Bam. And I don't know, man. Bam Bam has a high boxing IQ, high level footwork, high level defense, has power, and he's not gonna go in there and try to out monster the monster. I think there's gonna be a lot of things against Inouway in this fight. Bam is younger, he's fresher, he hasn't taken a lot of shots. His style isn't the best style for Inouway to go against because Fulton stole rounds that way. And Bam is a lot more efficient than Fulton. His jab is much more effective. Now he has shorter reach. I do think Inouway will be the stronger man in there. So he could go in there and just bully him. I don't think that's gonna happen. I think Bam is gonna wake this guy up and he might slay the monster. Now, shout out to Inoue for beating Nakatani. An impeccable expose of boxing skill and will and technique. It's just high level. It's just high level. And he held off the late push because Nakatani was pushing. Now, Benavidez versus Zordo. I already had Benavidez gonna win this fight, bro. I already do. We got Sanchez versus Jorge Chavez to start off the card. TKO Brown 10 with a little bit of time left. Got his man out of there. Now we get into Duarte versus Fierro. I thought Fierro got robbed. I'm sorry. I think he got robbed. I am sorry. I know Oscar was supposed to fight Richard Hitchikins and he dipped out and went to Zufa and all that bullshit happened. But Oscar did not win this fight to me. I think Fiero did. They should run it back. Rasa. Let's get that back. Let's get this going again. I don't want to see Oscar walking around with his head held high after this match. It was not that type of fight. It was not a clear winner. That's why the decision was a split decision. Now we got Jamie Mungia versus Armando. This is the guy that beat him. You know, the Royd situation, all these things was going on. He looked like a totally different fighter. His defense is better. The best I've ever seen, Mohamed Munghill's defense. It was great to see him improve. There's always going to be a black eye on his career for me because of the steroid usage or drug usage. If you got any of that on your career, I'm looking at you sideways. I don't have Manny Pacquiao high because of that. I don't have Nigel Bend or his son high because of that, no matter what they do. Brian Garcia is well. If you have anything with the drugs or anything like that, I'm cool off you. It's the most dangerous thing you can do in this sport, and I will not let you just get a clap for that. You will have a black eye in your career for the rest of your life. Now, getting into black eyes and careers in the rest of our lives. David Benavidez is the face of boxing. This was his coming out party. I don't know how many divisions he's climbed and conquered. He called out Canelo again. Canelo does not want that fight. He does not want that fight in no shape or form. He'd rather get beat up by Crawford again. He doesn't want that. He doesn't want it at all. Benavidez is punches and bunches. He has a jab. He can cut off the ring. He can do everything you need. And he's only 29. DS, I think he beats Ja Opatai. But Ja is in the Zufa boxing bullshit. Real boxers who are dealing with the belts are not giving Zufa any credence. Zufa is trying to delegitimize every world championship belt in organization. Zofa fighters will not get chances at these belts. They shouldn't. If Zufa wants to do his own thing, go be your own thing. Stop trying to come to fighters in other organizations. You're not doing it for the fans. You're doing it to line your own pockets. The UFC model gives UFC fighters 15% of the purse. That's why every UFC fighter's major bag has come from a boxing match. It's just asinine. But it is what it is. Shout out to David Benavidez. He is the new face of boxing. Incredible card. It was incredible to see two of the best monsters in boxing show us what we what to expect from high caliber champions going for the knockout, beating guys who you should be in your prime. I mean there and there's that's the fight of episode 88. It's happening in its