Naoya ‘’The Monster’’ Inoue of Ohashi Boxing Gym, who currently holds the World Boxing Association ‘’super,’’ International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Council bantamweight titles simultaneously, will face World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion Paul Butler of Britain on Dec. 13 at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena, organizers said on Oct. 13 at a Yokohama hotel.

If the 29-year-old Inoue wins the WBO title, he will become the first Asian boxer to achieve the feat of capturing the world titles of all the four major world sanctioning bodies, counting world champions at any weight division.

Speaking before a group of reporters at the hotel, Inoue said, ‘’I have always wanted to unify the four titles. The upcoming fight will be my final chapter as a bantamweight boxer, which means the start of my next target of moving up in weight to the super bantamweight. This is, therefore, just a stepping stone, not a goal in my career.’’

‘’My attempt to unify the world titles of the four sanctioning bodies is an important thing in the Japanese boxing world (to vivify the Japanese boxing world in general). I think I can show my younger members what they can achieve if they try hard. So, I must win with a good performance,’’ Inoue added determinedly. Inoue has 23 straight wins, including 20 knockouts.

The 33-year-old Butler, who has a 34-2 win-loss record with 15 KOs, was an IBF bantamweight champion in 2014 (which he relinquished quickly, citing his lightness in weight at that time). He won the WBO bantamweight interim title in April this year by decisioning Jonas Sultan of the Philippines.
But, since Sultan’s compatriot John Riel Casimero was stripped of the WBO title for his various misconduct, Butler supplanted him as the WBO champion.

Commenting on Butler, Inoue said, ‘’He is a well-balanced boxer in every aspect. I am thinking about what kind of strategy I should use if he should stick to the tactics of not being able to de decked.’’

Inoue continued he will do his training by ‘’purposely overestimating’’ Butler while saying, ‘’I have no intention to go the distance with him.’’

After winding up a two-week training session in the United States earlier this month, Inoue has already been engaged in sparring. Two boxers from the Philippines are expected to come to Japan to serve as Inoue’s full-fledged sparring partners, gym officials said.

Inoue will then conduct a brief training camp at the end of this month to beef up his stamina, the officials said. Former three-division world champion Koseai Tanaka of the Hatanaka Boxing Gym is expected to join as a sparring partner in November, according to the officials.