Boxing Challenge: Inoue erases Kim

    Lightly regarded junior featherweight challenger Ye Joon Kim tried his best to win rather than survive in his challenge of the undisputed champion Naoya Inoue Friday morning in Tokyo. Still, the fight was over when Inoue landed his first strong right hand.

That right connected in round four and they would fight no further with Inoue retaining all four of his championships via fourth-round KO.  

Kim was game and even landed a few right hands on "The Monster" but class showed the first time Inoue's power crashed home.

Inoue announced plans for three more fights in 2025, which is encouraging to boxing fans, and is reported to include a trip to the USA to meet the WBC's mandatory challenger Alan Picasso, a long-awaited defense against WBA mandatory Murodjon Akhmadaliev in Saudi Arabia, and then a Japanese superfight against WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani.

All three will present superior opposition to Inoue than Kim and while each will be a significant underdog, each will have supporters that think their man will be the one that tames the Monster.

Nakatani's height and reach will be a difficult task against Inoue and despite his surprising loss to Marlon Tapales, Akhmadaliev has the technical skills to at least trouble Inoue for a few rounds.

It looms as a very interesting year for Inoue and should all three of those fights occur with Inoue wins, The Monster will have a major case for 2025's fighters of the year.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica; 4 Pts (2)

TRS: 4 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 2 Pts (0)