Inoue, Benavidez and a 'Midlands Gatti-Ward' dominate the headlines on DAZN's golden boxing weekend

DAZN - the only game in town when it comes to serious boxing coverage - gave us three big headline fights on three different continents over the weekend. 

Never mind Super Saturday, it’s probably the best day between Friday and Sunday I’ve probably ever had without being on the sauce. 

Sunday morning? No hangover. No existential dread. No group chat full of blurry / controversial photos. Just an unmistakable satisfaction that we’re living in the same era of an all-time boxing great. 

In the end four-weight world champion Naoya Inoue proved too good for Junto Nakatani, a three-weight world champion himself. 

The irascible Inoue defended his undisputed super-bantamweight titles with another sizzling performance that underlined the fact that his boxing skills are hugely underrated. 

Before the first bell the pair were 37-0 in world title fights, and north of 55,000 fans packed into the Tokyo Dome for the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history. 

Many felt this would end in a stoppage either way, but it was a tactical affair for the most part. One for the purist with Inoue banking the early rounds. 

However, Nakatani began to come on after the sixth. He began winning rounds clearly and it felt like there was a real momentum shift happening. 

The penultimate stanza was pivotal. After three straight Nakatani rounds, Inoue showed us why he’s one of the greats. The little man with the huge talent knew he had to turn the tide, and he did so by turning the screw in round 11 and winning the round big. 

He more than held his own in the last round too, and there was no debate about the final scorecards. Japanese fight fans are far more polite than their UK and American counterparts, but they are also the kind of crowd that understands the subtle poetry of violence and both men were cheered out of the ring. 

It’s not just the elite boxing skills of Inoue. It’s the charisma. How he holds himself. The absolute swagger of the man. 

He is maximalist in his appetite for big fights and wherever the Japanese wrecking ball known as the ‘Monster’ goes next, the eyes of the world will follow this generational talent.  

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DAZN FACE OFF: Wardley vs. Dubois

Watch explosive encounter here

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Over in America on Saturday, David Benavidez turned in another star-making performance as the ‘Mexican Monster’ became the first fighter in history to win world titles at super-middleweight, light-heavyweight, and cruiserweight. 

Moving up 25lbs to box a unified champion is not for everyone, but the now 32-0 (26) Benavidez absolutely dominated against Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez at T-Mobile Arena. 

In a fight that was surprisingly one-sided given the weight jump, Benavidez was always the boss before delivering a brutal sixth-round TKO of Ramirez, who could not find any answers against the elite combination punching of his opponent. 

Canelo next for the Mexican Monster? 

The now three-weight king – who underlined his worthiness as a ‘pound-for-pound’ top 10 fighter at the weekend - now has serious options. Fights against Jai Opetaia, Dmitry Bivol or Artur Beterbiev would all be huge events. 

Opetaia probably needs Benavidez more than Benavidez needs Opetaia, as Jai badly needs to be involved in a fight where he is either the underdog or at least a 50/50 pick given his modest recent body of work. 

Selfishly, I would still like to see Benavidez throw down with Canelo Alvarez. 

Benavidez - who has been chasing Canelo for years - didn't waste the opportunity to make his case yet again in the ring afterwards. “I see Canelo in the building. Let me just ask the fans this. Do you guys want to see Canelo versus David Benavidez?” he asked, drawing a huge roar from the crowd. 

That would be a seismic event if they could get it over the line, but Benavidez has shown he is legit, and it will be interesting to see where this prodigiously gifted athlete goes after this. 

‘Midlands Gatti-Ward’ in Wolverhampton 

Yet on a weekend where ‘pound-for-pound’ stars rightfully stole the headlines, the actual best fight happened in the humble surroundings of Civic Hall in Wolverhampton. 

The West Midlands venue will never be mistaken for the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas, but Conah Walker and Sam Eggington put on an absolute showstopper in front of a raucous Black Country crowd. 

He’s only 32 but it feels like Eggington has been round since the dawn of time. However, the outsider with the bookies started brilliantly against Walker, winning the early rounds with better work inside. 

It was a terrific back-and-forth slugfest, but the freshness of Walker proved too much for Eggington to overcome in the second half of the fight, with Walker unleashing a series of devastating body shots as he began to turn the tide. 

It was a real blood and guts affair. A Fight of the Year candidate. Promoters: whatever these two were paid, please double it. 

Tony Bellew was only half joking when he said on DAZN between rounds nine and ten “This is the Midlands Gatti - Ward.” It really was that intense. 

I honestly don't know how Walker pulls it out of the fire time and time again. He's a warrior in the truest sense of the word. There was talk afterwards about a fight with Conor Benn and based on his recent efforts that is the type of fight – and payday – he deserves. 

You do worry for Eggington. The human body is a marvellous piece of kit but - for all its resilience - is not designed as a long-term storage facility for other people’s punches. 

He is, in his own chaotic way, a purist. A purist of pain. Where others hedge their bets, he pushes all his chips forward and invites the consequences to do their worst. 

One suspects that Eggington will never be a master of the subtle arts. Instead, he will continue to advance, to absorb, to swing, and occasionally, gloriously, to prevail. And in doing so, he reminds us that while courage may not always be wise, it is never, in its rawest form, anything less than compelling. 

All in all, it was quite the weekend for fans of maximum violence and proved once again that when boxing is done right there’s just no sport like it on the planet.

Wardley vs Dubois on DAZN PPV

Watch Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois on DAZN PPV this Saturday, May 9. Buy as a one-off PPV or get it included with the DAZN Ultimate Tier subscription, which also includes the Usyk vs. Verhoeven (May 23), Fury vs. Hall (June 13) and Zayas vs. Ennis (June 27) PPVs without any extra one-off costs.

For pricing, more information, and to sign up to watch, click here