'Monster' Inoue to face Akhmadaliev in Nagoya
The unbeaten Inoue stopped American Ramon Cardenas in the eighth round in Las Vegas in his previous bout — the first time the boxer, known as "Monster," had fought outside Japan in four years.
The 32-year-old returns to his home country to take on Akhmadaliev, who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and held the WBA and IBF super-bantamweight world titles between 2020 and 2023.
Inoue, who has a 30-0 record with 27 knockouts, told reporters in Tokyo that he wanted to "pay attention to all my skills" in preparing for the fight.
"I want to train with a high level of vigilance," he said.
Inoue was knocked down for only the second time in his career against Cardenas, taking a left hook from the heavy underdog in the second round.
He climbed off the canvas to stop Cardenas 45 seconds into the eighth round after a flurry of powerhouse punches.
It was Inoue's fourth title defense since becoming undisputed super bantamweight champion and his second of the year after knocking out South Korea's Kim Ye-joon in the fourth round in Tokyo in January.
Akhmadaliev (14-1, 11 KOs) beat Mexico's Luis Castillo in his previous fight in May.
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