Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Unified super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue’s title defense against her replacement opponent Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) is two days away, and surprisingly there zero hum about this fight on Friday, January 24.
(Credit: Naoki Fakuda)
No Buzz
It’s a sign that Japanese star ‘Monster’ Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) needs to challenge himself by moving up to featherweight so he can start facing opposition that the rest of us care about. of the world outside of his native Japan. about
Inoue is pretty rich, fights whoever he wants, and may not mind taking risks at this point in his career. He’s had it easy, winning world titles in four divisions and not facing anyone as risky as 36-year-old Nonito Donaire. Inoue suffered a right orbital bone fracture already broken nose in their first fight on November 7, 2019. You can only imagine what a younger Donaire would have done to Inoue.
The event will air live on ESPN+ this Friday at 4:15am ET/1:15am PT from Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku in Tokyo, Japan. Few American boxing fans will watch this fight because they won’t want to get up early on Friday to see what figures to be another upset for Inoue. You have to wonder what Top Rank thinks about this fight.
Inoue, 31, had been scheduled to plead guilty Sam Goodmanbut he came out with an eye injury. It was as lackluster a fight as Kim’s, and the fans had no interest.
Featherweight options
It’s unclear why Naoya stubbornly chooses to stay at 122 to fight the dark opposition instead of moving up to 126 to face these killers:
– Rafael Espinoza
– King Vargas
– Bruce Carrington
– Angelo Leo
—Nick Ball
– Brandon Figueroa
– Sulaiman Segawa
– Otabek Kholmatov
The answer is pretty obvious as to why Inoue chooses not to move up to featherweight. It’s too hard. You can argue that Naoya doesn’t want to lose, obviously, and see the bottom of his career drop. I can’t blame him for the easy money coming in without Inoue taking any risks. I would probably do the same. It is better to work for a living.
Don’t take risks, get the easy money and enjoy the tender filet mignon opposition for the next ten years before retiring. It’s weak, obviously, but it’s better than knocking out a featherweight against one of the assassins.
