Naoya Inoue reveals boxing retirement plans with Japanese star likely to bow out in 2027

Japanese boxing sensation Naoya Inoue has set out his plans retirement plans with the pound-for-pound star revealing he has just a couple of more years left in him.

Regarded as one of the greatest fighters to have ever stepped inside the ring, Inoue has won world titles in four different weight classes, including undisputed reigns at both bantamweight and super-bantamweight.

He made a successful defence of all five of his 122lbs titles against Texan Ramon Cardenas in Las Vegas earlier this month, dramatically bouncing back off the canvas to stop the tenacious American in the tenth round.

That victory has helped tee-up a mandatory showdown against former WBA and IBF super-bantamweight champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev in September, before a potential clash with Queensberry star Nick Ball early in 2026.

Whilst Inoue still harbours plenty of ambitions in the sport - including a blockbuster all-Japanese clash with Junto Nakatani - the 32-year-old is determined to ensure he bows out of boxing at the right time.

"I want to close my fighting career when the time is right," Inoue told Ring Magazine.

I think I have about three years left, including this year...

- Naoya Inoue (The Ring Magazine)

"I don’t feel any decline in my physical strength or performance yet, but I’m sure that someday that day will come.

"I have to plan my training and fights with that in mind. As a human being, I’m sure I will inevitably decline, so I think it’s important to prepare and to know myself."

Inoue v Nakatani is a fight that fans in Asia have been clamouring for, for years.

Whilst the two fighters have verbally agreed to face each other at some point in 2026, the superfight, you'd expect, hinges on both men retaining their unbeaten records in the coming months.

Unbeaten 27-year-old Nakatani is set to take on Ryosuke Nishida in a WBC and IBF unification clash next month, whilst Inoue's upcoming bout with Akhmadaliev is fraught with danger.

However, providing the two can retain their titles, then it appears all systems go for the biggest boxing fight in Japanese history, likely in spring, 2026.

Mark Mothershaw

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