Naoya Inoue to vacate bantamweight titles as he plans to move up to 122

Japanese pound-for-pound superstar Naoya Inoue has confirmed that he will vacate his WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF world bantamweight titles and then move up to the 122-pound division this year.

Inoue, 24-0 with 21 knockouts as a pro, snatched the WBC bantamweight world title when he knocked out Nonito Donaire Jr. last June before stopping Paul Butler to claim the WBO world title.

According to Inoue, there is nothing left to do in the 118-pound division.

"I would like to inform you that I will return the belts of the four sanctioning bodies," Inoue revealed during a press conference in Japan earlier today.

"I would like to move up one weight class and challenge the super bantamweight division. There is nothing left to do in this bantamweight division and there is no opponent I want to fight."

The move comes as big news to Philippine boxing, as it opens a lot of doors for world-ranked Filipino fighters such as Vincent Astrolabio, Jerwin Ancajas, and Reymart Gaballo to fight for a major world title.

For Inoue, the challenge now is to reign over the super bantamweight division which is currently ruled by WBC and WBO world champion Stephen Fulton and IBF and WBA world titleholder Murodjon Akhmadaliev.

"I have decided to compete in the super bantamweight division and challenge fighters who are bigger than me," Inoue said.

—MGP, GMA Integrated News