This weekend's boxing headlines will be dominated by Saturday's bout between Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Terence Crawford . But there's another pound-for-pound elite in action over the weekend when Naoya Inoue defends his undisputed junior featherweight championship against Murodjon Akhmadaliev.

Akhmadaliev (14-1, 11 KO) has long been seen as one of Inoue's most intriguing challengers and has been in line as Inoue's lone available mandatory challenger via the WBA. Some of Akhmadaliev's momentum was halted in April 2023, when he lost a split decision to Marlon Tapales, losing the WBA and IBF junior featherweight titles in the process.

Since the loss to Tapales, Akhmadaliev has rattled off a trio of TKO victories over mid-tier opposition.

Inoue (30-0, 27 KO) is a far different beast tha

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