IBF, WBC and WBO super bantamweight champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue will defend his replacement opponent Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) in place of his injured mandatory Sam Goodman on January 24 at the Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku in Tokyo, Japan.
Inoue’s management found South Korean Ye Joon Kim, 32, and inserted him as Naoya’s replacement to defend his three belts in 13 days on January 24. Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) withdrew from 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.
A rocky story?
The fans’ only problem, besides never having heard of Kim before, is how he can be allowed to fight for Inoue’s three super bantamweight world titles when he’s not ranked in the top 15 by any of the four sanctioning bodies. Other than that, Yoon Kim is about as good an option as Naoya’s unpopular initial choice, Sam Goodman.
Inoue’s team carried out a ‘Rocky’- type selection, choosing 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 acceptable if this was a non-world title fight without any of Inoue’s belts on the line. Team ‘Monster’ Inoue chose a ham and egg as his replacement. It’s good for Kim and Naoya but ugly for the fans.
Allowing a non-competitor to challenge for three world titles is off-putting and completely unfair to the fans and top 15 contenders who have been waiting for their chance to win the world title against the Japanese star.
Boxing fans were not interested in seeing Inoue defend against Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs), considering it a typical mismatch for the Japanese star. Australian Goodman is a finesse fighter with no power and would have been fodder for Naoya.
However, Goodman looks like a real talent compared to his 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.
YesJoon Kim’s last six opponents:
Rakesh Lohchab
John Basan
Sam Diezel
Rubén Montoya Ramirez
Ryō Kosaka
Anocha Phuangkaew
The records of these fighters are nothing short of horrible, filled with losses to obscure fighters. Again, how the hell is Naoya Inoue allowed to defend against Ye Joon Kim rather than a credible competitor?
