Naoya Inoue successfully defended his undisputed super bantamweight titles in Tokyo, as he routinely dealt with the challenge of late-notice replacement Ye Joon Kim in a fourth round knockout win.
Inoue was set to face Sam Goodman both before Christmas and on this card, but the Australian suffered eye injuries on both occasions, and was forced to pull out. ‘The Monster’ was last out in September 2024, stopping TJ Doheny to defend his wealth of gold in seven rounds. Kim was challenging for world honours for the first time.
After an opening round of little note, Inoue began to up the tempo with a crisp jab, and he was largely doing as he pleased as early as the second.
There was swelling under the left eye of Kim in round three, and the home favourite was toying with the challenger, cranking up the pressure to the body of the South Korean.
A round later came the finish, and it was emphatic as ever from Inoue.
Kim attempted to let some shots go, but was then met with a hard left hand that hurt him, and he responded by beckoning Inoue in, showing machismo when under fire and clearly troubled.
A huge right hand blasted the ‘Troublemaker’ nearly through the ropes, and to the canvas, and his race was run as the full count was administered.
Inoue’s promoter Bob Arum confirmed that his next bout would take place in Las Vegas in the Spring.
🇯🇵 Naoya Inoue at 31
👑 WBC light fly title
👑 WBO super fly title
👑 WBA bantam title
👑 IBF bantam title
👑 WBC bantam title
👑 WBO bantam title
👑 Ring bantam title
👑 IBF super bantam title
👑 WBC super bantam title
👑 WBO super bantam title
👑 Ring super bantam title pic.twitter.com/rl5nxARGF8— Pro Boxing Fans (@ProBoxingFans) January 24, 2025
Sasaki overcomes Sakai
On the undercard, Jin Sasaki defended his WBO Asia Pacific and OPBF welterweight titles with a clear points win in an energetic display against the teak-tough Shoki Sakai.
Sasaki (19-1-1, 17 KOs) was adjudged a handy 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112 victor to keep hold of his belts but Sakai (29-15-3, 15 KOs) was very competitive in defeat.
Sasaki is closing in on a maiden world title shot, ranked in the top four of every governing body.
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Remaining Undercard
Yuni Takada continued his fine recent form, making it eight wins on the spin, and adding the WBO Asia Pacific minimumweight title with a split decision win against Goki Kobayashi (8-2, 5 KOs).
Scores of 116-111 and 114-113 secured Takada (16-8-3, 6 KOs) the belt, with a third judge scoring 114-113 in his favour.
In ten rounders, Tsubasa Narai was a split decision winner in his lightweight meeting with Kai Watanabe. Two scores of 96-94 clinched victory for Narai (15-2, 10 KOs), against a third score of the same for Watanabe (13-2-1, 7 KOs).
At super bantamweight, Toshiki Shimomachi (20-1-3, 12 KOs) won via majority decision against Misaki Hirano (11-2, 4 KOs) to defend his Japanese title.
