The argument for best fighter in the world, regardless of weight, often has a few candidates. It’s part of what makes it fun to argue about. Whenever a weight class loses someone who is genuinely part of the debate, it hurts.

How much it hurts depends on what the pieces left behind do with the new opportunity. We’re starting to find out what bantamweight will look like having lost one of the game’s elite talents in Japan’s Naoya Inoue. 

We already know that part of the new look of the division will include a familiar name. Naoya’s brother Takuma Inoue (18-1, 4 KO) has little of his sibling’s explosiveness but he was capable enough to snare the vacant WBA belt in April with a decision over veteran Liborio Solis. 

Saturday, on the undercard of the Zhanibek Alimkhanuly-Steven Butler middleweight belt fight (ESPN, 10 PM EST), a pair of bantamweights will attempt the job of filling another part of the void now that Naoya Inoue has vacated all the titles in the class to chase Jr. featherweight glory. 

One has the painful memories of what it’s like to stand across from Inoue. The other is riding a six-fight win streak that includes an upset of former lineal Jr. featherweight king Guillermo Rigondeuax.

It might be the best matched fight of the weekend and indicates that bantamweight, post-Inoue, should be in good hands. 

Australia’s 32-year old Jason Moloney (25-2, 19 KO) has come up short in two title opportunities at bantamweight. A split decision loss to Emanuel Rodriguez in 2018, for a vacant IBF belt, ended Moloney’s hopes in the World Boxing Super Series quarterfinals, denying him an immediate chance to face Inoue in the semi-finals.

Four wins got him back to Inoue after Inoue won the tournament, only for Moloney to suffer a seventh-round knockout defeat for the IBF and WBA straps. Moloney has won four times to line up what will be a shot at the vacant WBO belt this weekend.

Across the ring, 26-year old Filipino Vincent Astrolabio (18-3, 13 KO) will be looking to inject new life into the class. Astrolabio turned heads with the Rigondeaux win but it was a knockout of Nikolai Potapov that suggested this might be a real comer in the class. Since losing three of five fights in a stretch from December 2017-December 2018, including his lone stoppage loss, Astrolabio has matured into a real contender.

Moloney could just as easily have been fighting former titlist and future Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire for the vacant WBC belt, but opted to pursue this WBO opportunity instead. In February, the WBC announced that the now 40-year old Donaire (42-7, 28 KO) could face 27-year old Alejandro Santiago (27-3-5, 14 KO) though no fight is yet announced.

Santiago has won three in a row since a loss to Gary Antonio Russell. Donaire hasn’t fought since the second of two defeats to Inoue.

Last week, the future of the vacant IBF belt was reportedly set with 30-year old Emanuel Rodriguez (21-2, 13 KO) looking at a July showdown with 25-year old Melvin Lopez (29-1, 19 KO).

It’s enough of a solid mix of veterans and new faces to keep bantamweight interesting even with the loss of a superstar. Inoue’s run at bantamweight was both comprehensive and destructive. From a knockout of former titlist Jamie McDonnell in May 2018 through his December 2023 victory over Paul Butler, Inoue went 9-0 with eight knockouts and seven wins against opponents ranked top ten in the division by TBRB and/or Ring Magazine. Inoue left as the first undisputed champion in the class in almost fifty years. 

It was the best run at bantamweight since at least Rafael Marquez and maybe since Carlos Zarate…but everything ends and bantamweight could be in worse shape. Depending on who wins upcoming fights for vacant belts, there could be room for unification rematches (Moloney-Rodriguez II), indirect rivalry continuation (Donaire versus the brother of his conqueror), or any number of fresh matches we haven’t seen before.   

This is bantamweight, post-Inoue, and there is still reason to tune in.  

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com