Hey Jim Lampley, Is Inoue GODZILLA? Or At MOTHRA Level?

Eyes were apportioned mainly on two different targets as we counted down to the Saturday HBO “Superfly” card. One set were staring hard at the Nicaraguan all-star Chocolatito; could he bounce back after losing to a tough Thai guy, in the rematch? Or was Father Time getting his filthy hooks into him, and helping him lose luster as he tried his hands at higher weight classes? Then, another pocket of people on the lookout for a future star wondered how Naoya Inoue would look in his HBO debut? Was this guy over hyped or would he deliver on his buzz and nickname, “The Monster?”

HBO’s Jim Lampley joined us on the latest edition of the Everlast podcast “TALKBOX,” and I put it to him: is Inoue legit as a Godzilla sort at 115…or are we still deliberating just how lethal he is?

“He’s Mothra with room to grow,” the blow by blow ace, who was installed in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2016, told us. “He could very definitely be Godzilla. Maybe with a little Rodan thrown in on the side. But, yeah, he is a tremendous talent and you have to love the poker face..and I thought it was fascinating, he landed the one great left hook at the beginning of the fifth round, and Max Kellerman instantly said, ‘He doesn’t need to throw another punch beside the left hook to the body,’…and he virtually didn’t for the rest of the round, it was as though he heard Max’s comment, and said, ‘Yeah, I agree,’…I’m going to just keep going back to the well and hammer this guy to the liver until he’s gone.”

“He’s going to wreck more livers than Jim Beam,” I opined.

Lampley noted that the Japanese boxer came in as a Compubox monster in the jab department; he throws more than anyone in the sport.

So, jab-a-maniac…and left hook to the body is ruthless. Lots to like in the Godzilla-in-the-making.