January 24: Undisputed Tremendous Bantamweight King Naoya Inoue to face late alternative Ye Joon Kim LIVE on ESPN+
The Monster Present should go on.
Naoya Inoue will now defend his undisputed tremendous bantamweight crown in opposition to Korean challenger Ye Joon Kim on Friday, Jan. 24, at Ariake Area in Tokyo.
Inoue was scheduled to face undefeated Australian contender Sam Goodman, who withdrew from the bout twice as a consequence of cuts sustained in sparring. Kim, who’s 2-0 on Japanese soil, stepped in on brief discover to face the pound-for-pound stalwart.
Inoue-Kim and the welterweight co-feature between Jin Sasaki and Shoki Sakai will stream stay and completely within the U.S. on ESPN+ beginning at 4:15 a.m. ET/1:15 a.m. PT.
Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) started his four-belt legacy in December 2022 when he stopped Paul Butler to unify all of the bantamweight titles.
Then, inside slightly over a yr, the 31-year-old knocked out WBC/WBO champ Stephen Fulton in July 2023 and WBA/IBF king Marlon Tapales that December to realize undisputed glory in a second weight class.
He made historical past once more final Could by headlining the primary boxing card on the Tokyo Dome for the reason that historic Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas showdown, overcoming a first-round knockdown earlier than icing former two-division world champion Luis Nery in six.
In September, he registered a seventh-round TKO over one-time junior featherweight king TJ Doheny.
Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) turned professional in 2012 and has spent most of his profession combating in Korea.
He’s a former IBF Asia tremendous bantamweight champion who has received two straight since a majority choice defeat to veteran Rob Diezel in Auburn, Washington.
Kim picked up the WBO Oriental tremendous bantamweight crown final Could in Bangkok, Thailand, knocking out Rakesh Lohchab within the fifth spherical. He’s presently ranked No. 11 on this planet by the WBO.
