'I couldn't feel my legs' - what it's like to fight Inoue
One of the most feared punchers on the planet stands at 5ft 5in and weighs less than 9st. That man is Japan's Naoya Inoue. On Saturday the four-weight world champion and two-division undisputed king will attempt to defend his super-bantamweight titles against compatriot and three-division champion Junto Nakatani at the Tokyo Dome.
Inoue has stopped opponents 27 times in 32 wins and put foes down on the canvas on more than 45 occasions. Along with Oleksandr Usyk, he is one of the greatest fighters in the world. Speaking to those who have fought him, BBC Sport finds out what is it like to face Inoue.
Paul Butler was a two-time world bantamweight champion and title challenger at super-flyweight before he faced Inoue in 2022. The Briton held the WBO title that Inoue wanted in his quest to become an undisputed champion at bantamweight. Butler took a deal to travel to Japan to face Inoue in his own backyard.
He was preparing with trainer Joe Gallagher at home and the video research had him wincing. "I've got in my mind for 12 weeks, when he hits me it's going to feel like a train hit me," Butler says. "He's putting people over with 14oz gloves on and I'm thinking, 'wow, I wonder what he punches like with 8oz gloves on'.
" When Butler stood with Inoue, he had renewed confidence because Inoue struggled with the weight cut. "I remember having a face-to-face with him after the weigh-in and looking and thinking 'How on earth are you knocking people's spark out? Mate, you're tiny'," said Butler.