IBF, WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue will defend against replacement opponent Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) in place of injured mandatory Sam Goodman on January 24 at Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, 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 the fight against Inoue due to another eye injury. Inoue is expected to rematch Goodman later in 2025.
Rocky Story?
One problem for fans, 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 is not ranked in the top 15 by any of the four sanctioning bodies. Besides, Yoon Kim is just as good an option as Naoy’s unpopular original choice, Sam Goodman.
Inoue’s team made a ‘Rocky’- type selection, selecting an unranked fighter that few people have ever heard of and putting him in the spotlight to fight for three world titles. It would be more palatable if this was a non-world title fight and none of Inoue’s belts were on the line. Team ‘Monster’ Inoue chose a ham and egg as his replacement. That’s great for Kim and Naoya, but bad for the fans.
Allowing a non-contender to fight for three world titles is unacceptable and grossly unfair to the fans and the top 15 contenders who have been waiting for their world title shot against the Japanese star.
Boxing fans weren’t interested in seeing Inoue defend against Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs), seeing it as a typical matchup for the Japanese star. Aussie Goodman is a nice fighter without power and would be fodder for Naoya.
However, Goodman looks like a real talent compared to replacement opponent, Ye Joon Kim, who lost to assistant Sam Diezel two years ago (15-10, 4 KOS0 via eight-round majority decision on April 15, 2023).
YJoon Kim’s last six opponents:
Rakesh Lohchab
Ivan Basan
Diesel himself
Ruben Montoya Ramirez
Ryo Kosaka
Anocha Phuangkaew
Those fighters’ records are simply awful, full of losses against obscure fighters. Again, how on earth is Naoya Inoue allowed to defend against Ye Joon Kim instead of a credible opponent?
