Naoya Inoue

Naoya Inoue is the best pound-for-pound puncher in boxing, and it isn't especially close. 'The Monster' has won world titles in four weight classes, became undisputed champion at bantamweight and then did it again at super bantamweight — the first man ever to fully unify two divisions in the four-belt era — and has knocked out 27 of the 33 men who tried him.

The terrifying part is that the power is the least technical thing about him. Inoue's jab, timing, and body attack are all elite on their own; the left hook to the liver that folded Marlon Tapales and the right hand that ended Stephen Fulton were set up like chess moves. Speed creates the opening, precision converts it, and the power just makes it permanent.

Japan hasn't produced a star like this in generations — his fights sell out domes in Tokyo and start at breakfast time for Western audiences, who watch anyway. The 2019 war with Nonito Donaire, fought half-blind with a fractured orbital, proved the chin and the will behind the highlight reel.

At 33, still unbeaten at 33-0 and holding three belts at 122, Inoue is running out of divisions to empty. Featherweight watches nervously.