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Unified tremendous bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) Weighed in at 121.8 lbs, whereas his substitute Challenger Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) got here in at 121.7 pound for his or her headliner this Friday, January twenty fourth on the Ariake Area, Koto-Ku, in Tokyo, Japan.
(Credit score: Naoka Fakuda)
Somber Weigh-in
The weigh-in had a funeral-like really feel to it, as nobody smiled, with the fighters with gloomy expressions on their faces. Inoue had been scheduled to defend towards Sam Goodman, however he suffered an harm in camp and had to get replaced by Kim.
For followers outdoors of Australia, Kim and Goodman are interchangeable. No distinction. Each are gentle punchers and no menace to beating Inoue, and they don’t seem to be standard fighters. It’s good {that a} substitute opponent might be discovered so shortly. It’s too unhealthy a greater opponent may have been dug as much as make it fascinating.
Who’s Kim?
There’s not a lot recognized about Kim as a result of he’s been combating lesser opposition his complete 13-year skilled profession. He’s not executed something to charge getting a title shot, whilst a substitute opponent.
It’s unusual how Group Inoue chosen him fairly than somebody that that followers have heard of, and who may doubtlessly give Naoya a run for his cash. Which may not be what they might have wished as a result of it might have been dangerous for Inoue to battle somebody with two weeks of preparation for his or her type.
Friday’s Inoue-Kim occasion will probably be proven on ESPN+ at 4:15 a.m. ET/ 1:15 a.m. PT. Diehard boxing followers within the U.S. will possible stand up that early to observe the occasion., however that’s about it.
Inoue, 31, hasn’t anybody that boxing followers have been enthusiastic about seeing since his match towards Stephen Fulton in 2023. That battle acquired lots of people in the useager to see it. Since then, Naoya has crushed these fighters:
– TJ Doheny– Luis Nery– Marlon Tapales
