A new opponent has been named for the next fight of Naoya Inoue as he faces Ye Joon Kim at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on January 24. The latter replaced Sam Goodman.
Australia’s Goodman was first forced to postpone the fight against Inoue, and then ultimately withdrew from the bout due to a cut suffered in sparring. Korea’s Kim stepped in to challenge the Japanese boxing star for the undisputed junior featherweight title on short notice.
“To be honest, I was surprised, but I’m grateful to Chairman [Hideyuki] Ohashi for preparing an opponent even in this situation,” Inoue posted on social media. “With less than two weeks to go until the match, I’ve managed to make my mind up.”
“I’m very sorry to all my fans, but I would appreciate your support on January 24th. I’ll be sure to give you my best performance on the day.”
Undefeated Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) stopped TJ Doheny in the seventh round last September and made the second successful defense of his second undisputed title, previously holding all major belts at bantamweight. In May 2024, the 31-year-old four-weight champion of Zama, Kanagawa TKO’d Luis Nery in the sixth round, after unifying the four 122 lbs straps by knockout in the 10th round against Marlon Tapales in late 2023.
Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) is coming off a win via fifth-round TKO against Rakesh Lohchab last May. In July 2023, Seoul’s 32-year-old stopped John Basan in the first round and bounced back from a majority decision defeat against Rob Diezel in April of the same year.