United Super Bantamweight Champion Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) weighed in at 121.8 lbs, while his replacement Challenger Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) weighed in at 121.7 lbs for this headliner Friday, January 24. at Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, Tokyo, Japan.
(Credit: Naoka Fakuda)
Gloomy weighing
The weigh-in looked like a funeral, because no one was smiling, and the fighters had sad expressions on their faces. Inoue was scheduled to defend against Sam Goodman, but was injured in camp and had to be replaced by Kim.
For fans outside of Australia, Kim and Goodman are interchangeable. There is no difference. Both are light punchers and don’t threaten to beat Inoue, and they aren’t popular fighters either. It’s good that a replacement opponent was found so quickly. It’s a shame that a better opponent could have been dug up to make it interesting.
Who is Kim?
Not much is known about Kim because he fought smaller opponents throughout his 13-year professional career. He hasn’t done anything to rate a title shot, not even as a replacement opponent.
It’s strange how Team Inoue chose him and not someone these fans have heard of, and who could potentially give Naoyi a run for her money. That might not be what they want because it would be risky for Inoue to fight someone with two weeks of preparation for their style.
Friday’s Inoue-Kim event will be shown on ESPN+ at 4:15 ET/ 1:15 PT. Die-hard boxing fans in the US will probably get up that early to watch the event, but that’s about it.
Inoue, 31, hasn’t had anyone boxing fans look forward to since his fight against Stephen Fulton in 2023. That fight has many people in the US wanting to see it. Since then, Naoya has defeated these fighters:
– TJ Doheny
– Luis Nery
– Marlon Tapales
