A day after dominating American WBC and WBO champion Stephen Fulton in his super bantamweight debut, Japan's Naoya "Monster" Inoue said Wednesday he has no interest now in moving up one weight class to featherweight.
The 30-year-old, who relinquished his four world bantamweight titles in order to become the undefeated super bantam champion, met reporters at his Ohashi Boxing Gym in Yokohama.
"It (Monday's bout) was valuable," said Inoue. "Surpassing a larger opponent boosted my confidence. I feel more powerful with the move up in weight class."
Inoue, who has now won world titles in four different weight classes, earned high praise from former champions Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and Mike Tyson of the United States.
Pacquiao, who won titles in six different divisions, tweeted "Inoue has great speed and lots of power behind his punches. He's a special fighter!"
Tyson, on Youtube, said, "He's better than Manny Pacquiao, and Pacquiao was so good."
After Tuesday's fight in Tokyo, IBF and WBA champion Marlon Tapales of the Philippines joined Inoue in the ring and the two said they looked forward to a unification fight this year.
While some in the U.S. media said Inoue's dominance over Fulton indicated he might not be able to find a worthy opponent unless he moves up from super bantam to featherweight, Inoue said Wednesday he is good where he is.
"Even if I get good results and unify all four titles in this division, I think I will remain here," he said. "It would take three years to remake my body properly (to fight as a featherweight)."
Related coverage:
Boxing: Inoue knocks out Fulton to win 2 super bantam belts
Boxing: Inoue, Fulton weigh in ahead of momentous world title bout
Multimedia special: The Monster Naoya Inoue
