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Monday, January 27, 2025

Kim KO’d: Inoue Goes to Vegas for American Domination


Promoter Bob Arum says Naoya Inoue will fight again in Las Vegas in the spring after his fourth-round blowout of little-known Ye Joon Kim on Friday night at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

IBF, WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs) dropped the hapless Kim (21-3-2, 13 KOs) with a right hand in the fourth round. He was then counted out by referee Mark Nelson at 2:25.

The fight had no sporting value as Inoue pummeled Kim at will for the entire four rounds. It was incredible that Team Inoue chose Kim as the replacement opponent. A better opponent should have been chosen than this guy, but we don’t know if the general idea was to ensure Inoue looked good. Assuming that’s the goal, Kim was ideal.

“Another great performance by our champion here,” said Bob Arum. “I noticed that the great country Japan gave {Shohei} Ohtani to Los Angeles. And at least for one fight, the great country of Japan will give the great Inoue to the city of Las Vegas this spring.”

Arum isn’t saying who Inoue, 31, might fight, but for most American fans, it has someone’s real talent as he feasts on lesser opposition. If Inoue is going to fight in Vegas or Los Angeles, he needs to fight quality fighters. American fans are less tolerant of the soft opposition Inoue has fought than his loyal fans from Japan.

Options for Inoue In US Fight

– Gervonta Davis
– Rafael Espinoza
– Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Nunez
– Emanuel Navarrete
– Vasily Lomachenko
– Angelo Leo
– King Vargas
– Andy Cruz
– Shakur Stevenson
– Keyshawn Davis

Fans want to see Naoya take some risks for once by fighting the likes of Gervonta Davis, Rafael Espinoza or Emanuel Navarrete. In other words, fighters where for the first time in his career Inoue would be the underdog instead of an overwhelming favorite as we saw in his fight against Ye Joon Kim.

This fighter was brought in to replace Naoya’s originally scheduled opponent, Sam Goodman, a lighter puncher who hasn’t beaten anyone of note to earn the mandatory spot. He would have matched against Inoue like the obscure fighter Kim.

Interestingly, in 2023 Kim lost to the fight Rob Diezel (14-9). Why was Kim used as an opponent for Inoue even after that defeat? The promoters for Naoya might as well have used Diezel as his opponent. What is the difference?

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