Naoya Inoue doesn’t have a stranglehold on the No. 1 pound-for-pound slot, although he believes he should.

The undisputed junior featherweight champ from Japan, ranked No. 2 pound for pound by The Ring, is playing tug of war with two other gifted fighters, No. 1 Oleksandr Usyk and No. 3 Terence Crawford.

Crawford will get a chance to make his case Saturday night when he takes on Canelo Alvarez at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Inoue, who faces Murdjon Akhmadaliev on Sunday (Saturday ET and BST) in Nagoya, will likely turn on Netflix to see whether Crawford can get it done. If Crawford wins, Inoue knows his rival's pound-for-pound argument would only get stronger.

Even if Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) becomes the first three-division undisputed champ in men's boxing history, Inoue isn’t willing to take a backseat.

“I am the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world,” he told a group of reporters during a recent press conference.

Akhmadaliev (14-1, 11 KOs) isn’t regarded as highly as Alvarez, but he’s ranked No. 2 by The Ring and is a former unified 122-pound champ. He’s also been on a roll, scoring three straight stoppage wins since his upset defeat against Marlon Tapales in April 2023.

Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs) believes there is more on the line in his fight than Alvarez vs. Crawford even though the latter matchup is considered a superfight.

The Yokohama resident will be defending his undisputed championship for the fifth time.

“I’m looking forward to watching Canelo vs. Crawford, but I think my fight is more important,” Inoue said.