Promoter Bob Arum says Naoya Inoue will fight in the spring in Las Vegas following his fourth round stoppage of little-known Ye Joon Kim on Friday night at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
IBF, WBC and WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Inoue (29-0, 26 KO) dropped the unfortunate Kim (21-3-2, 13 KO) with a right hand in the fourth round. Then at 2:25 referee Mark Nelson counted him.
The fight had zero sporting value, as Inoue pummeled Kim at will for the entire four rounds. It was incredible that Team Inoue chose Kim as a replacement opponent. A better opponent should have been chosen than this guy, but we don't know if the general idea was to make Inoue look great. Assuming that was the purpose, Kim was ideal.
“Another great performance from our champion here,” said Bob Arum. “I noticed that the great country of Japan gave {shohei} ohtani to Los Angeles. And for at least one fight, the great country of Japan will give the Great Inoue to the city of Las Vegas this spring.”
Arum isn't saying who Inoue, 31, might fight, but for most of us fans, it's come down to someone's real talent as he's signed up for lesser opposition. If Inoue is going to fight in Vegas or Los Angeles, he needs to fight quality fighters. American fans are less tolerant of the soft opposition Inoue has faced than his loyal Japanese fans.
Appropriate options for Inoue in the US fight
– Gervonta Davis
– Rafael Espinoza
– Eduardo 'Sugar' Nunez
– Emanuel Navarrete
– Vasily Lomachenko
– Angelo Leo
– Rey Vargas
– Andy Cruz
– Shakur Stevenson
– Keyshawn Davis
Other than those fighters, there is no one that has been appealed to Inoue to fight if he competes in Las Vegas in the spring. Drive Sam Goodman away As Naoya's opponent will not work for American fans.
They want to see quality, and at the very least they want Inoue to be in a 50-50 fight. So far, Inoue has been the heavy favorite in all of his fights, and that's not interesting for us fans in any sport. There's an excellent chance that Inoue would lose to eight of the ten opponents on my list above, but at least he'd fight level opposition once. That's what the Americans want to see instead of the lower level fighters they face.
Fans want to see Naoya take some risks for once by fighting Gervont Davis, Rafael Espinoza or Emanuel Navarrete. In other words, fighters where Inoue would be the underdog for the first of his career, rather than the overwhelming favorite, as we saw in his fight against Ye Joon Kim.
This fighter was brought in to replace Naoya's opponent, Sam Goodman, a lighter puncher who didn't beat anyone of note to earn a mandatory spot. He would be overpowered against Inoue like the obscure fighter Kim.
Interestingly, Kim lost to journeyman Rob Diezel (14-9) in 2023. why was Kim even used as an opponent for Inoue after that loss? Naoy's promoters could also use Diesel as their opponent. What's the difference?
