Naoya Inoue Surges in Pound-for-Pound Rankings After Nakatani Win

Naoya Inoue can now definitively call himself the best boxer in the world.

While the two-division undisputed champion has always had a strong argument to be the best overall boxer, he was never able to top either Terence Crawford or Oleksandr Usyk in the pound-for-pound rankings. That all changed after his recent title defense against former WBC, IBF and The Ring bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani.

After shutting down Nakatani to improve to 33-0, Inoue is now the No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in Ring Magazine's latest rankings update.

INOUE IS THE NEW POUND-FOR-POUND KING 👑

Naoya Inoue claims the #1 spot after his win over Junto Nakatani last Saturday 😤 pic.twitter.com/R9en5zpCg7
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) May 4, 2026

Inoue moved up one spot in the rankings to surpass Usyk to claim his first-ever No. 1 pound-for-pound placement in the Ring Magazine rankings.

Usyk has a chance to potentially reclaim the throne on May 23, when he is scheduled to defend the WBC heavyweight title against former GLORY Kickboxing heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven. But even with the best performance of his career, it would be difficult to justify promoting Usyk over Inoue after beating a 37-year-old crossover fighter with just one professional boxing fight to his name.

Inoue, on the other hand, defeated a previously undefeated fighter in Nakatani, whom many believed would be the stiffest challenge of his career. Inoue out-landed Nakatani 140 to 120, according to Compubox, to earn at least seven of the 12 rounds on all three judges' score cards.

Naoya Inoue reacts to Ring Magazine ranking

The ranking means everything to Inoue, who has been expressing his gratitude to the fan base on social media since the win. 'The Monster' called the recognition of his latest title defense "truly valuable" as he admittedly reaches the twilight of his career.

"I've made a comeback to the #1 spot in the Ring Magazine's PFP!!" Inoue tweeted. "This comeback, earned through your evaluations of this match, is something truly valuable. Thank you so much!!"

リング誌PFP1位へ返り咲きました！！
この試合を評価していただいて得た返り咲きはとても価値あるものです。
ありがとうございました！！ pic.twitter.com/safoTAST2u
— 井上尚弥 Naoya Inoue (@naoyainoue_410) May 5, 2026

Inoue has an opportunity to cement his status as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world in his next title defense, which is rumored to be an even bigger super-fight. The 33-year-old has reportedly already discussed potentially facing unified super flyweight champion Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez, who is No. 4 in the Ring Magazine pound-for-pound rankings.

A hypothetical Inoue-Rodriguez matchup would be one of the highest pound-for-pound matchups in recent boxing history. Rodriguez is currently scheduled to make his bantamweight debut against WBA 118-pound champion Antonio Vargas on June 13.

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