Tank Davis vs. Monster Inoue: Catchweight Checkmate

Tank Davis has repeatedly fought men bigger than him throughout his professional career, having secured wins against the lanky Ryan Garcia and the hulking Mario Barrios at 140 lbs.

Davis, having taken offense to the loss endured by Errol Spence Jr. at the hands of Terrence Crawford last Saturday, might be a little too pissed off at Bud to think about fighting Inoue, but luckily Mayweather’s promotional chops are more than up to snuff. Tank likely has the power to do so, and has made intimations of moving up to 147 to end Crawford’s undisputed welterweight reign.

But a fight against an international superstar might open more business opportunities for The Money Team than a grudge match against Bud Crawford.

Naoya Inoue’s last fight was on July 25 at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan against the technicaly skilled and athletically gifted Stephen “Cool Boy Steph” Fulton. Interestingly, in the leadup to the fight, Fulton mentioned, via his social media: “What if Inoue didn’t have that power?”

Just before the fight, Fulton’s Team brought international attention to the unorthodox way that Inoue wraps his hands.

This might have something to do with the “what if he doesn’t have power” statement; if Fulton’s camp knew about the wraps at the time he mentioned Inoue’s power, it makes sense that Fulton’s gameplan might’ve centered around taking away Inoue’s power – by making him change the style of his handwraps for the fight.

To adhere to the regulations of Japan, it’s legal for handwraps to be stacked with multiple layers of tape.

If the fight had taken place in Las Vegas, the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s rules would force Inoue to wrap his hands differently. It’s likely that Inoue’s power would be blunted without the his specialized hand wraps.

In a fight against Tank Davis, he would need every possible advantage he could secure. He’s naturally a smaller fighter, like Davis, and has lots of power like Tank, too. But the difference is that Tank Davis’ power has been proven, even under the restrictions of NSAC.

It remains to be seen if Inoue could still summon his monstrous knockout power in a ring in the states, or if the defeat he handed Fulton had more to do with regional rules than it did Inoue’s true punching prowess.

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