NEW YORK – Reito Tsutsumi admires Naoya Inoue and everything the Japanese superstar has accomplished in their home country.

The 22-year-old Tsutsumi will root for the fully unified 122-pound champion Sunday night, when Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs) will defend his Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO belts against San Antonio’s Ramon Cardenas (26-1, 14 KOs) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN).

As much respect as Tsutsumi has for Inoue, a southpaw from halfway around the world provided him with the most inspiration.

Tsutsumi, who will make his much-anticipated pro debut Friday night in Times Square, told The Ring he patterned his style after Vasiliy Lomachenko. Tsutsumi especially appreciates the three-division champion from Ukraine’s ring generalship and the way Lomachenko moves so gracefully.

“It’s kind of similar to my style right now,” Tsutsumi said. “He is the one person that I really look up to. … I think he has footwork that I don’t really see from other fighters. That’s something I’ve really liked to learn from Lomachenko.”

The explosive southpaw is looking forward to displaying his own deft footwork against Chicago’s Levale Whittington (1-2-1, 1 KO) in a six-round junior lightweight fight DAZN will stream as part of The Ring’s “FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves” card from midtown Manhattan. Tsutsami-Whittington will be the second bout of a five-fight pay-per-view show scheduled to start at 5 p.m. ET ($59.99 in the United States).

“I want more people to know who I am – what kind of person I am, what kind of fight I can do, what kind of fighter I am,” said Tsutsami, whose older brother, Hayato, is a junior lightweight prospect (6-0, 3 KOs). “I want to win, of course, but I want people know what kind of potential I have. I want to show people my potential.”

Turki Alalshikh, owner of The Ring, saw plenty of potential when he watched footage of Tsutsami’s amateur fights. Alalshikh made him a Ring ambassador and afforded the Narashino native an opportunity to fight for the first time as a professional on a grand stage.

Tsutsami, who went 58-2 as an amateur, recognizes the importance of boxing in the United States. He's also eager to return to Japan, where Inoue sells out arenas and commands eight-figure purses.

“He is probably the leader of the fighters in Japan,” Tsutsami said. “I wanna be the kind of fighter Inoue is and I wanna be the kind of leader he is. That’s what I wanna become in the future.”