IBF, WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue will defend against replacement opponent Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) on January 24 at Ariake Arena, Koto in place of his injured obligee Sam Goodman. Ku in Tokyo, Japan.
Inoue’s management found 32-year-old South Korean Ye Joon Kim and inserted him as Naoya’s replacement to defend his three belts in 13 days on January 24. Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) pulled out of his fight against Inoue due to a recurrence of an eye injury. Inoue is expected to reschedule against Goodman at a later date in 2025.
Rocky story?
Fans’ one issue, aside from never having heard of Kim, is how he can be allowed to fight for Inoue’s three world titles at super bantamweight when he is not ranked in the top 15 by any of the four sanctioning bodies. Other than that, Yoon Kim is just as good an option as Naoya’s unpopular original choice, Sam Goodman.
Inoue’s team has a ‘Rocky’- type of selection, to pick an unranked fighter few people have ever heard of and put him in the spotlight to challenge for three world titles. It would be more palatable if it was a non-world title fight with none of Inoue’s belts on the line. Team ‘Monster’ Inoue chose a ham and egg as his replacement. This is great for Kim and Naoya, but bad for the fans.
Allowing a non-contender to fight for three world titles is repulsive and completely unfair to the fans and the top 15 contenders who have been waiting for their chance at the world title against the Japanese star.
Boxing fans weren’t interested in seeing Inoue defend against Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) as it was a typical mismatch for the Japanese star. The Aussie Goodman is a finesse fighter without power and would have been food for Naoya.
However, Goodman looks like a real talent compared to replacement opponent Ye Joon Kim, who lost two years ago to 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 Bashan
Sam Diesel
Ruben Montoya Ramirez
Ryo Kosaka
Anocha Phuangkaew
Those records of those fighters are simply awful, filled with losses to obscure fighters. Again, how in the world is Naoya Inoue allowed to defend against Ye Joon Kim rather than a credible competitor?
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