Inoue has power and speed to dominate featherweight division, but…
WBO Asia Pacific Vice President Leon Panoncillo. | Photo from PBC Twitter page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Renowned international boxing supervisor Leon Panoncillo believes that undisputed world super bantamweight champion Naoya “Monster” Inoue can dominate the featherweight division, but beyond that would be uncertain.
Panoncillo, WBO Asia Pacific Vice President, was one of the supervisors of the much-anticipated world title unification showdown between Inoue and erstwhile WBA and IBF world super bantamweight champion Marlon “Nightmare” Tapales on Tuesday evening, December 26, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
He witnessed how the Japanese boxing superstar decked Tapales twice en route to a 10th round knockout victory to become the undisputed world super bantamweight champion.
Size matters
For Panoncillo, Inoue has the power and speed, but his body frame, specifically his height will hinder his chances to move up beyond the featherweight division.
“I think Inoue will eventually develop into the highest would be the featherweight. He isn’t that big as Manny (Pacquiao). Manny was bigger in the lighter weight divisions,” Panoncillo explained.
“Inoue can move up to the featherweight division and not more than that because he’s too small in the heavier divisions, but his power is there, his quickness like Manny, he has the skills. I believe Inoue is a special fighter who has a lot of power, but his body frame isn’t more developed to heavier weight divisions than the featherweight,” he added.
Inoue is listed as 5-foot-5 which is identical to Pacquiao’s height.
Still, Inoue etched his name in boxing history books as one of the only two boxers in history to become undisputed champions in two weight categories.
Tapales can bounce back
Aside from his view on Inoue’s future, Panoncillo credited Tapales’ valiant efforts against boxing’s current superstar.
“Tapales came to fight, you gotta respect it. He was also a world champion in the WBA and IBF, the respect was mutual,” said Panoncillo.
He credited Tapales’ durability which lasted 10 rounds against Inoue who has been recently wrecking his opponents in early-round knockouts.
“I believed that he came to fight and tried to win. The factor was of course the talent between Inoue and Tapales were on different levels. I believe Inoue was a lot quicker and faster, but the durability of Tapales was there, he was there to win, I’m very proud of him that he did his best,” Panoncillo said.
“I still believe Tapales can become a world champion in the future.”
Panoncillo is currently in Tagbilaran City, Bohol to supervise the WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight title bout between PMI Bohol Boxing Stable’s Gerwin Asilo against Elorde Boxing Stable’s Aljum Pelesio.
Asilo and Pelesio will square off in the co-main event of Kumong Bol-Anon XIII on Thursday, December 28, 2023, at the Bohol Wisdom School gymnasium.
RELATED STORIES
Inoue KOs Tapales, becomes undisputed super bantamweight champ
Tapales flies to Tokyo for Inoue mega fight
Casimero-Inoue fight possible in 2024, says international judge
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
