By and large, Naoya Inoue has become almost mythical-like. His violent punching power? Described as one-of-kind. His ability to move up effortlessly in weight while continuing to dominate the competition? A rarity. While his overall skills have been lauded, his propensity for separating his foes from their consciousness has earned him the moniker, the Monster.

However, despite his current placement as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, Luis Nery isn’t overly impressed. In his view, not only is the Japanese native overhyped but after carefully studying him, Nery concludes that Inoue’s nickname better suits himself.

“He’s not a monster,” said Nery recently to a group of reporters. “He’s a little monster. I’m the real monster of 122.”

Regardless of Nery’s claims, Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs) is out to prove him wrong. Following a successful undisputed crusade at 118 pounds, the 29-year-old has decided to promptly abandon his throne and stomp into the super bantamweight division.

For his first outing, Inoue had opted against taking on a soft touch and will instead head into a showdown against current 122-pound unified champion, Stephen Fulton.

Although Fulton sports his own undefeated record and is as battle-tested as they come, oddsmakers believe that Inoue is simply a cut above, pegging him as a solid favorite. The overall outcome of their showdown, which hasn’t been officially announced but is believed to take place before the second half of the year, is of no concern to Nery.

More than anything, the 28-year-old believes that he has found his rhythm. After having his once pristine record sullied at the hands of Brandon Figueroa in 2021, Nery (34-1, 26 KOs) has reeled off three consecutive victories, including this past weekend against Azat Hovhannisyan, stopping him in the 11th round.

As prognosticators continue to hurl a perpetual amount of praise in Inoue’s direction, Nery clenches his fist in anger. When the time is right, the former Mexican champion turned contender is convinced that he’ll remove Inoue’s facade once and for all.

“I want to take his mask off.”