IBF, WBC, and WBO super bantamweight champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue will defend against substitute Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) in place of the injured Sam Goodman on January 24 at Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku in Tokyo , in Japan.
Inoue’s management found 32-year-old South Korean Ye Joon Kim and replaced Naoya to defend his three belts in 13 days on January 24. Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) pulled out of his fight with Inoue due to recurrence of eye injury. Inoue is expected to reschedule against Goodman sometime in 2025.
A Rocky Story?
Another issue for fans, unless they’ve never heard of Kim before, is how he can be allowed to fight for Inoue’s three world titles at super bantamweight when he’s removed from the 15-count list in any of the four sanctioning bodies. Besides, Yoon Kim is almost as good a choice as Naoya’s unpopular choice, Sam Goodman.
Inoue’s team did a ‘Stones’ – choosing a brand, choosing an unranked fighter few people have heard of and putting him in the spotlight to challenge for three world titles. It would be a lot more fun if this fight wasn’t a world title fight with none of Inoue’s belts at stake. Team ‘Beast’ Inoue chose a ham & egg in his place. That’s good for Kim and Naoya but bad for the fans.
Allowing a non-entrant to fight for three world titles is disrespectful and unfair to the fans and the top 15 competitors who have been waiting for their shot at the world title against the Japanese superstar.
Boxing fans were not interested in seeing Inoue defend against Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs), seeing it as a typical mismatch for the Japanese star. Aussie Goodman is an underpowered fighter and would be food for Naoya.
However, Goodman looks like a real talent compared to his next opponent, Ye Joon Kim, who lost two years ago to the journeyman Sam Diezel (15-10, 4 KOS0 by eight-round majority decision on April 15, 2023.
Ye Joon Kim’s Last Six Opponents:
Rakesh Lohchab
John Basan
Sam Diesel
Ruben Montoya Ramirez
Ryo Kosaka
Anocha Phuangkaew
Those fighters’ records are just bad, full of losses against obscure fighters. Also, how on earth is Naoya Inoue allowed to defend Ye Joon Kim instead of an honest opponent?
Source link
