Unified super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue’s title defense against his replacement opponent Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) is two days away, and surprisingly zero buzz about this fight on Friday, January 24.
(Credit: Naoki Fakuda)
No Buzz
It’s a signal that Japan’s star, ‘The Monster’ Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs), needs to challenge himself by moving up to featherweight so he can start facing opposition that worries the rest of the world outside of his home country of Japan. o.
Inoue is pretty rich, he fights whoever he wants, and it’s possible that he doesn’t want to take any chances at this point in his career. He had it easy, winning world titles in four divisions and facing no one more dangerous than 36-year-old Nonito Donner. Inoue suffered a fracture of the right orbital bone and a broken nose in their first fight on November 7, 2019. You can only imagine what a younger Donner would do to Inoue.
The event will be broadcast live on ESPN+ this Friday at 4:15 ET/1:15 PT from Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, in Tokyo, Japan. Few American boxing fans will see this fight because they won’t want to get up early on Friday to watch what numbers will be another mismatch for Inoue. You have to wonder what Top Rank thinks about this fight.
Inoue, 31, was supposed to defend against his mandate Sam Goodmanbut escaped with an eye injury. It was just as lackluster a fight as Kim’s, and the fans weren’t interested.
Featherweight Options
It’s unclear why Naoia stubbornly chooses to stay at 122 to fight obscure opposition rather than move up to 126 to face these killers:
– Rafael Espinoza
– King Vargas
– Bruce Carrington
– Angelo Leo
– Nick Ball
– Brandon Figueroa
– Suleiman Segava
– Otabek Holmatov
The answer is pretty obvious as to why Inoue chooses not to move to featherweight. It’s too hard. You could argue that Naoya doesn’t want to lose, obviously, and see the bottom of his career. I can’t blame him for the easy money that comes without Inoue taking any chances. I would probably do the same thing. It’s better to work for a living.
Don’t risk it, get easy cash and honor the filet mignon soft opposition the next ten years before retirement. It’s obviously weak, but it’s better than getting knocked out at featherweight against one of the killers.
