Pound-for-pound superstar Naoya Inoue makes his first appearance of 2025 this Friday at Ariake Arena, Tokyo, putting his undisputed super bantamweight crown on the line against late substitute, Ye Joon Kim.
Ohashi Promotions are on the promotional duties, while Sky Sports televise Inoue vs Kim, live in the UK and ESPN+ show the card in the USA.
Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) was due to face Sam Goodman, but the Australian pulled out of a Christmas Eve meeting with a cut eye, and another eye injury forced him out at late notice here.
Inoue has been residing at super bantamweight for his last four bouts, and after spells as world champion at three different weights, and completing the set of titles at bantamweight, he took the WBC and WBO belts at 122 pounds with an eighth round stoppage of Stephen Fulton in July 2023.
The 31-year-old then swiftly became undisputed champion, knocking out Marlon Tapales in ten to add WBA ‘super’ and IBF straps, and 2024 saw two more title defences.
‘The Monster’ halted Luis Nery in six rounds in May, and September saw him overcome a tricky test in TJ Doheny, winning in seven rounds.
Kim (21-2-2, KO13) has a massive job on his hands here, and only two fights ago, the South Korean dropped a majority decision over eight rounds to the unheralded Rob Diezel.
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The 32-year-old has rebounded, and gets this shot as WBO Oriental champion, winning that title by stopping Rakesh Lohchab in five rounds in Thailand last May.
Prediction: Inoue should be able to deal with the late replacement scenario here with ease, and I fancy him to stop Kim before the halfway mark in another dominant display.
Kobayashi tackles Takada
The undercard sees Goki Kobayashi in action, and he defends his WBO Asia Pacific minimumweight title for a second time in his second spell as champion, against Yuni Takada.
Kobayashi (8-1, 5 KOs) lost his belt and his unbeaten record in August 2023 when he was outscored by Jake Amparo, but he immediately won the vacant belt back last February, and defended with a clear points win four months later against Joseph Sumabong.
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Takada (15-8-3, 6 KOs) has won seven on the spin since a run of just one win from seven bouts from 2019 to 2021, with his last a points win against Yuri Kanaya to defend his Japanese title last July.
Prediction: Kobayashi can bring an end to Takada’s recent good run, and can defend his title on the cards.
Remaining Undercard
The final twelve rounder on the card is at welterweight, where Jin Sasaki (18-1-1, 17 KOs) should take a stoppage win against Shoki Sakai (29-14-3, 15 KOs), a victory that will see him close in on a world title shot.
In ten rounders, Tsubasa Narai (14-2, 10 KOs) should outscore Kai Watanabe (13-1-1, 7 KOs) at lightweight, and at super bantamweight, Misaki Hirano (11-1, 4 KOs) can become the new Japanese champion with a points win over Toshiki Shimomachi (19-1-3, 12 KOs).
