Promoter Bob Arum says Naoya Inoue will be back fighting in the spring in Las Vegas following 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 hit Kim at will for the entire four rounds. It was unbelievable that Team Inoue selected Kim as the replacement opponent. A better opponent should have been picked than this guy, but we don’t know if the general idea was to ensure Inoue looked great. Assuming that’s the purpose, Kim was ideal.
“Another great performance by 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, could be fighting, but for most U.S. fans, it’s got to someone’s actual talent because he’s feasting on lesser opposition. If Inoue is going to fight in Vegas or Los Angeles, he needs to fight quality fighters. American fans are less tolerant of the soft opposition that Inoue has been fighting than his loyal fans from Japan.
Suitable Options for Inoue In U.S Fight
– Gervonta Davis
– Rafael Espinoza
– Eduardo ‘Sugar’ Nunez
– Emanuel Navarrete
– Vasily Lomachenko
– Angelo Leo
– Rey Vargas
– Andy Cruz
– Shakur Stevenson
– Keyshawn Davis
Other than those fighters, there’s no one else that is appealing for Inoue to be fighting if he’s competing in Las Vegas in the spring. Trotting out Sam Goodman as Naoya’s opponent won’t work for American fans.
They want to see quality, and at the minimum, they want Inoue to be in 50-50 fights. Up to now, Inoue has been a huge favorite in all of his fights, and that’s not interesting for U.S. fans for any sport. There’s an excellent chance that Inoue would lose to eight of the ten opponents from my list above, but at least he would be fighting A-level 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 by fighting the likes of Gervonta Davis, Rafael Espinoza, or Emanuel Navarrete. In other words, 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 fighter 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 overmatched against Inoue like the obscure 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 defeat? The promoters for Naoya might as well have used Diezel as his opponent. What’s the difference?
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