IBF, WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue will defend against substitute opponent Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) in place of his mandatory injured Sam Goodman on January 24 at Ariake Arena, Koto-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 recurring eye injury. Inoue is scheduled to rematch against Goodman at a later date in 2025.
Rocky Story?
One problem fans have, aside from never having heard of Kim before, is how he can be allowed to fight for Inoue’s three world super bantamweight titles when he’s not ranked in the top 15 by any of the four bodies. sanctions. Other than that, Yoon Kim is as good an option as Naoya’s unpopular original choice, Sam Goodman.
Inoue’s team made a ‘Rocky’- type selection, picking an unranked fighter few people have ever heard of and putting him in the spotlight to challenge for three world titles. It would be nicer if it was a world title fight without any of Inoue’s belts on the line. Team ‘Monster’ Inoue chose a he and eggs as its replacement. It’s great for Kim and Naoya, but bad for the fans.
Allowing a non-contender to fight for three world titles is unfortunate and absolutely unfair to the fans and the top 15 contenders who have been waiting for their world title shot against the Japanese star.
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 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 youngster Sam Diezel (15-10, 4 KOS0 by eight-round majority decision on April 15 of 2023.
YJoon Kim’s last six opponents:
Rakesh Lohchab
John Bashanu
Sam Diezel
Ruben Montoya Ramirez
Ryo Kosaka
Anocha Phuangkaew
Those records of those fighters are just terrible, full of losses against obscure fighters. Again, how in the world is Naoya Inoue allowed to defend against Ye Joon Kim instead of a credible contender?
