Arum offers latest updates on Inoue-Donaire 2, next Navarrete defense

Arum wants to stage Inoue’s next fight in Japan, though that’s still up in the air with the pandemic

Bob Arum once again sat down with World Boxing News’ Dan Rafael to discuss Top Rank’s upcoming plans, providing some concrete info in the process.

Arum states that he aims to stage bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue’s next fight in November or December, ideally in “The Monster’s” native Japan. A unification rematch with Nonito Donaire looks most likely, but Donaire promoter Richard Schaefer says it’s “a bit premature to talk about dates, sites, and money” considering the ongoing pandemic.

He also confirms that Vasiliy Lomachenko will, indeed, headline a December 11th card at Madison Square Garden. Richard Commey, whom Rafael previously stated as his “likely” opponent, “has come up” in the discussion, though Devin Haney has as well. That card will see former Olympic gold medalist Tony Yoka make his long-delayed U.S. debut, assuming he gets by Petar Milas on September 10th.

Finally, WBO featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete will defend his title on October 16th against mandatory challenger Joet Gonzalez, “probably” at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. This is a sneaky good fight; Navarrete’s never in a boring scrap and Gonzalez, though outclassed by Shakur Stevenson in his previous title shot, is a hard-nosed pressure fighter who’ll make “Vaquero” work.