Top Rank boss Bob Arum presided as the promoter of Manny Pacquiao’s legendary career during the most significant years of the Filipino Hall of Fame fighter’s reign.

Nowadays, Arum has another A-lister in his stable from the eastern hemisphere in Japanese sensation Naoya Inoue.

The undisputed junior featherweight champion Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) will be riding a nine-fight stoppage streak into his matchup against Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) on Friday at the Ariake Arena in Koto-Ku, Japan.

Arum believes The Ring’s No. 2 ranked pound-for-pound fighter’s career is more prolific than Pacquiao’s.

"Boxers are unique,” Arum told Sky Sports. “Manny Pacquiao was a great, great champion, was great for boxing. His career is legendary. Naoya Inoue's career is even more legendary because unlike Manny he has gone through one division after another without losing a fight.

"You really can't compare either of them because they're both obviously great fighters but they're also different. Manny was reckless in a lot of fights and that's why he got knocked out in the last fight that he had with [Juan Manuel] Marquez. Because he went in on the attack and didn't look out for an answering punch.

"But he was a great entertainer and he entertained the fans and he was beloved not only in the Philippines but all over the United States.

"Now Inoue is a much more disciplined fighter. He is much more correct in the ring. He doesn't take foolish chances. Sometimes you do but usually he does not take foolish chances.

"I think that if it comes to the skillset, from a technical boxing standpoint, Inoue has it way over Manny Pacquiao. That's not to denigrate Pacquiao but it's just to say that in Inoue we have not only a ferocious knockout puncher but a very, very well-trained technical fighter."

Pacquiao retired in 2021 with a record of 62 wins (39 KOs), 8 losses, and 2 draws, collecting titles across eight divisions in a career that started at 106 pounds in the Philippines before becoming a global superstar soon after he started fighting in the United States.

Throughout his 26-year career, Pacquiao, one of the greatest fighters of his generation, beat the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Keith Thurman, Adrien Broner, Lucas Matthysse, Jessie Vargas, Chris Algieri, and Brandon Rios.

Pacquiao also twice beat the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez (also one loss, one draw), Erik Morales (also one loss), and Timothy Bradley (also one loss). In 2015, Pacquiao lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. via unanimous decision in boxing's most lucrative fight in history.

The knockout artist Inoue, meanwhile, has won titles at 108, 115, 118 (undisputed), and 122 pounds and has a respectable hit list with wins against the likes of Nonito Donaire (twice), Stephen Fulton, and Luis Nery in recent years.

But his overall body of work through his 13-year career thus far can’t be compared to the imitable Pacquiao.

Inoue recently struck a deal with Riyadh Season and is expected to fight in the United States and perhaps at 126 pounds sometime this year.