Junito Nakatani: "I've been watching the footage of the Inoue fight more thoroughly than ever before. I've watched it nearly 10 times. It really reveals a ton of areas for improvement, so that's why I've been revisiting it so much. That 8th round where we both ended up laughing at each other? I was thinking, 'Man, I'm not landing a thing' (laugh). Before the fight, I'd studied him inside and out, built up my game plan, and stepped into the ring ready for it—but still, there were so many moments where my punches just whistled through empty air. In the heat of the moment, I'd react and actually enjoy those 'not landing' instants. It was such a rare experience, so I had a blast with it."

I've been fascinated with the rise of Uzbek boxing over the past few years. That Olympic showing in 2024 was impressive and we've seen some of them in title fights, but they seem to come up short when they fight for the belt. Are they not as good as they are hyped to be or have they gotten unlucky?

MJ Akhmadaliev is probably the best of the bunch, that win over Roman was impressive. He had a few defenses, but inadvertently lost to to Tapales. Still, he made good on his promise and could still be champion.

Israil Madrimov had a great showing to win his title and then gave Crawford possibly his toughest fight. But we haven't heard much after that. He also has time to become champion if he gets more active.

Shakhram Giyasov was unlucky to go up against Catterall instead of Rolly, but he lost his first title fight and it wasn't close. I doubt he gets another chance.

Shohjahon Ergashev had what I would consider the worst game plan of anyone I'd seen in a title fight. Matias is known for walking forward and eating punches to land his own and Ergashev was totally unprepared for it. He is already out of the rankings.

Otabek Kholmatov was winning his title fight against Ray Ford before inexplicably getting knocked out. He might get another crack, but all of these guys somehow never fight.

Bakhodil Jalolov is somehow ranked and could actually win post Usyk and Fury, but he would need to actually fight literally anyone. Bektemir Melikuziev is #1 for the WBA, so we'll see how that goes.

Overall, I don't think it's a great track record. They are also not active. My take is that they need different trainers than the Diaz brothers, they don't seem to know how to game plan for big fights. This is also the first generation of fighters. They have more guys coming who could build and learn from them. But also, if they were Brits or Americans all of them would have won a title by now by getting soft touches and cherry picked opponents. Any interesting takes or observations?

I was looking at Adam Smith’s coverage of Katie Taylor’s fight this weekend and spotted he’s got a book out this week on Ricky Hatton. After he gave the eulogy at Ricky’s funeral I’ve no doubt it’ll be a great book on the legend. Should be a good read 👍

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Seems like the norm for top level fighters is 2 fights a year. Much of the time, those fights are against overmatched opponents (I suppose by definition, being a top fighter means you’re against weaker guys all the time…but a lot of these guys aren’t really a challenge at all) and don’t produce any surprises or excitement.

It could take several years for a decent matchup to occur. And it could take a decade or more fight a SUPER FIGHT. But, even then, those guys could be past their prime and/or the fight never happens at all.

Boxing seems to rob fans more than other sports. I find myself getting curious about mediocre fights and/or mediocre fighters that I don’t think I’d ever care about had there been better ones set up. That speaks to boredom from lack of interesting fights/fighters for me.

Or, maybe I’m just a casual who doesn’t appreciate all fighters more or the good matchups from lower level fighters. What are your thoughts on fight schedules - especially, as it relates to top stars nowadays.

I’m new to the boxing world so forgive me - I know Moses had to go to the hospital after the fight, so I understand why there wasn’t an immediate interview. But is it normal in boxing for us not to hear from the fighter or their coach afterward?

It’s just strange that with all the controversy around his training we’re only hearing from people on the periphery…