I've fought Carl Frampton and Guillermo Rigondeaux but my toughest opponent was 'Monster' Naoya Inou

Nonito Donaire has shared the ring with some world class operators over the years, but Naoya Inoue tops the lot.

'The Filipino Flash' is a former four-weight world champion and he has held world titles across three decades.

He has come up against fighters such as former two-weight world champion Carl Frampton and the man who Manny Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach described as 'probably the greatest talent I've ever seen' in Guillermo Rigondeaux.

But, none of these tests have been tougher than his duo of fights with 'The Monster' Naoya Inoue.

"I think the best guy that I faced and maybe perhaps if I was younger it might be a different story, but at the moment of who I am, in this time, I would say Inoue is the toughest that I've faced or the strongest that I've faced," Donaire told Boxing News+.

"I think it's like facing the younger me, you know there's just a lot of similarities in terms of power, explosiveness and sometimes intelligence. But, I think a lot of it is given the similarities is what makes it more difficult."

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The pair first clashed in the final of the World Boxing Super Series in 2019 and it was an epic encounter that would go on to be named the Ring Magazine's 'Fight of the Year'.

On that occasion, Inoue won by unanimous decision to claim the Muhammad Ali trophy and add the WBA bantamweight title to his IBF strap.

Three years later, both men went head-to-head once again, but this time the result was far more emphatic as Inoue knocked Donaire down twice on his way to a second round KO victory.

And the man from Japan will be hoping for a similar result when he comes up against Stephen Fulton on July 25.

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I've fought Carl Frampton and Guillermo Rigondeaux but my toughest opponent was 'Monster' Naoya Inou

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