Eddie Hearn urges WBA to strip Naoya Inoue of his title

Eddie Hearn, promoter of Uzbek professional boxer Murodjon Akhmadaliev and head of Matchroom Boxing, has called on the World Boxing Association (WBA) to take action against Japanese world champion Naoya Inoue by stripping him of his title. Hearn made these remarks in an interview with "talkSport".

According to Hearn, Inoue has repeatedly avoided a mandatory title defense against Uzbekistan's Murodjon Akhmadaliev in the second light heavyweight division.

"Inoue is avoiding Akhmadaliev. Naoya has been instructed several times to defend his belt against Murodjon, but he has openly evaded the fight, choosing instead to compete against [TJ] Doheny and Yo Joon Kim. The WBA must issue a final warning to Inoue to either defend his title against Akhmadaliev or face the consequences. Frankly, I believe Naoya Inoue will soon vacate the belt himself," Hearn stated.

It should be noted that Inoue recently defended his titles by defeating South Korean fighter Yo Joon Kim.