Murodjon Akhmadaliev didn't mince his words after winning the WBA interim super bantamweight title, taking aim at undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue.
Akhmadaliev made light work of Ricardo Espinoza in Monaco on Saturday to win the interim title , putting him a step closer towards his primary goal of facing Inoue for the undisputed crown.
After defeating Espinoza, Akhmadaliev accused the Japanese pound-for-pound great of "ducking" a fight with him despite the Uzbek's accolades and status as a mandatory challenger, with the 30-year-old demanding an explanation for why an Inoue vs. Akhmadaliev fight has yet to happen.
"If he don't wanna fight me, he just needs to explain," Akhmadaliev said through a translator. "Because when I was the champion, I followed the rules. And he should follow the rules as well."
Akhmadaliev held the WBA (Super) and IBF titles between 2020 and 2023, losing the belts just a few months before Inoue moved up to super bantamweight and eventually became undisputed in the division.
Now interim WBA titleholder, Akhmadaliev exclaimed, in English, "I'm ready, let's go Inoue!"
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