Unified super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue's title defense against replacement challenger Yi Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KO) is two days away, and surprisingly, Zero buzz About this fight on Friday, January 24th.
(Credit: Naoki Fakuda)
No noise
It's a sign that Japanese star, “The Beast” Inoue (28-0, 25 KO), needs to challenge himself by moving up to featherweight so he can start facing opposition that the rest of the world cares about outside of his native Japan. on.
Inoue is very wealthy, fights whoever he wants, and probably doesn't care about taking risks at this point in his career. He had it easy, winning world titles in four divisions and facing no dangerous player other than 36-year-old Nonito Donaire. Inouye A. suffered Right orbital bone fracture And a Broken nose In their first fight on November 7, 2019. You can only imagine what the younger Donaire would have done to Inoue.
The event will be broadcast live on ESPN+ on Friday at 4:15 a.m. ET/1:15 a.m. PT from Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, in Tokyo, Japan. Few American boxing fans will watch this fight because they won't want to wake up early on Friday to watch what could be another numbers mismatch with Inoue. You have to wonder what Top Rank thinks about this fight.
Inoue, 31, was scheduled to defend his mandatory decision Sam GoodmanBut he withdrew due to an eye injury. It was a fight that was just as lackluster as Kim's fight, and the fans had no interest.
Featherweight options
It is unclear why Naoya stubbornly chose to stay at 122 to fight the mysterious opposition instead of moving to 126 to confront these assassins:
– Rafael Espinosa
– King Vargas
-Bruce Carrington
-Angelo Liu
– Nick Paul
-Brandon Figueroa
– Suleiman Segawa
– Otabek Kholmatov
The answer is pretty clear as to why Inoue chose not to move up to featherweight. It's very difficult. You can tell Naoya doesn't want to lose, and clearly sees rock bottom in his career. I can't blame him for the easy money that comes with Inouye taking no risks. Maybe I'll do the same. It beats working for a living.
Don't risk it, get easy money, and A feast of soft opposition filet mignon For the next ten years before retirement. He's obviously weak, but it's better than losing at featherweight to an assassin.
