Unified super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue’s title defense against his replacement opponent Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) is two days away, and surprisingly so. buzz zero about this fight on Friday, January 24.
(Credit: Naoki Fakuda)
No Buzz
It is a sign that the Japanese star, “Monster” Inoue (28-0, 25 KO), needs to challenge himself by moving to featherweight so that he can start facing the opposition that the rest of the world outside of the his home country of Japan worries. look up.
Inoue is pretty rich, fighting whoever he wants, and it’s possible he doesn’t care to take risks at this point in his career. He’s had it easy, winning world titles in four divisions and facing no one as dangerous as 36-year-old Nonito Donaire. Inoue suffered a fracture of the right orbital bone and a broken nose in their first fight on November 7, 2019. You can only imagine what a smaller Donaire would have done to Inoue.
The event will be broadcast live on ESPN+ this Friday at 4:15 am ET / 1:15 am PT from Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, in Tokyo, Japan. Few US boxing fans will see this fight because they won’t want to get up early on Friday to watch what figures to be another mismatch for Inoue. You have to wonder what Top Rank thinks of this fight.
Inoue, 31, had been scheduled to defend his term Sam Goodmanbut pulled out with an eye injury. It was as light a fight as Kim’s, and the fans had no interest.
Feather options
It is unclear why Naoya stubbornly chooses to stay at 122 to fight the dark opposition instead of moving to 126 to face these killers:
– Rafael Espinoza
– King Vargas
– Bruce Carrington
– Angel Leo
– Nick Ball
– Brandon Figueroa
– Sulaiman Segawa
– Otabek Kholmatov
The answer is pretty obvious because Inoue chooses not to move up to featherweight. It’s too hard. You can argue that Naoya doesn’t want to lose, obviously, and see the bottom of his career. I can’t blame him because of the easy money coming in without Inoue taking any risk. I would probably do the same thing. Beat the job for a living.
Don’t take risks, get the easy money, and feast of the tender filet mignon opposition for the next ten years before retirement. It’s weak, obviously, but it’s better than being beaten at featherweight against one of the killers.
