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Promoter Bob Arum says Naoya Inoue will fight again in the spring in Las Vegas after his fourth-round blowout of little-known Ye Joon Kim on Friday night at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
IBF, WBC and WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs) dropped the hapless Kim (21-3-2, 13 KOs) in the fourth round with a right hand. He was then counted out at 2:25 by referee Mark Nelson.
The fight had zero sporting value, as Inoue punched Kim at will for the entire four rounds. It was unbelievable that the inoue team selected Kim as a replacement opponent. A better opponent should have been chosen than this guy, but we don’t know if the whole idea was to make sure Inoue looked great. Assuming that’s the purpose, Kim was ideal.
“Another great performance from our champion here,” said Bob Arum. “I observed that the great country of Japan has given {shohei} Ohtani to Los Angeles. And at least for one fight, the great country of Japan will give the great inoue to the city of Las Vegas this spring.”
Arum isn’t saying who INOUE, 31, might be fighting, but for most of us fans, he has someone’s real talent because he’s feasting on lesser opposition. If Inoue is going to fight in Las Vegas or Los Angeles, he needs to fight quality fighters. American fans are less tolerant of the soft opposition Inoue has been fighting than his loyal fans in Japan.
Suitable options for inoue in the American fight
-Gervonta Davis
– Rafael Espinoza
– Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Núñez
– Emanuel Navarrete
– Vasily Lomachenko
-Angelo Leo
– King Vargas
-Andy Cruz
– Shakur Stevenson
-Keyshawn Davis
Other than those fighters, there is no one else who would be attractive for Inoue to fight if he is competing in Las Vegas in the spring. Jogging Sam Goodman As Naoya’s opponent it won’t work for American fans.
They want to see quality, and at the very least, they want INOUE to be in 50-50 fights. So far, Inoue has been a heavy favorite in all of his fights, and that’s not interesting to us fans of any sport. There’s an excellent chance that Inoue will lose to eight of the ten opponents on my list above, but at least he’d be fighting A-tier opposition for once. That’s what Americans want to see instead of the lower-level fighters he’s been facing.
Fans want to see Naoya take some risks for once fighting the likes of Gervonta Davis, Rafael Espinoza or Emanuel Navarrete. In other words, the fighters where Inoue would be the underdog for the first in his career instead of an overwhelming favorite, as we saw in his fight against Ye Joon Kim.
This wrestler had been brought in to replace Naoya’s originally scheduled opponent, Sam Goodman, a lighter puncher who had beaten no one of note to earn the mandatory spot. He would have been outmatched against Inoue as the dark fighter Kim.
Interestingly, Kim had lost to journeyman Rob Diezel (14-9) in 2023. Why was Kim even used as an opponent for Inoue after that loss? Naoya’s promoters could have also used Diezel as his opponent. What is the difference?
