Despite facing a new opponent on less than two weeks’ notice, undisputed junior featherweight Naoya Inoue’s legendary power remained on full display on Friday morning.
Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs), a four-division champion and Japanese superstar who is widely considered among the best pound-for-pound boxers in the sport, took his time in the opening rounds to feel out Ye Joon Kim (21-3-2, 13 KOs) before delivering the boom with a fourth-round knockout inside Tokyo’s Ariake Arena.
Kim, a 32-year-old native of South Korea, filled in on late notice to replace Australia’s Sam Goodman, a mandatory challenger who twice pulled out of scheduled bouts against Inoue over the past two months due to a cut suffered in sparring.
“My opponent has been injured twice and my new opponent stood up to me 10 days before the fight,” Inoue said. “Kim, thank you so much for a competitive fight tonight.”
Inoue, 31, pawed and feinted Kim in the early going as he looked to slowly corner his opponent. But Kim, who fought as a southpaw throughout, confounded Inoue for a stretch with his patience and defense. In Round 3, despite some visible swelling under his left eye, Kim routinely scored to the body and briefly made Inoue pay for his aggression with counter left hands.
The momentum switched back into Inoue’s favor for good in Round 4, however, as he opened the round with heavy pressure to bring down Kim’s high guard and force him to exchange. After Inoue landed flush with a looping left hand, Kim motioned for his opponent to come forward.
Unfortunately for Kim, Inoue obliged his gesture and immediately stepped forward with a two-punch combination, ending with a brutal straight right hand that knocked Kim to the canvas. Referee Mark Nelson started his count before calling off the bout at 2:25 as Kim struggled to reach his feet.
“Overall, I think it was a good punch but I didn’t have enough time to study my opponent,” Inoue said. “I just took some time to see what is coming from him. Only thing I can do is get better each time in the ring so I’m going to take my career to the end.”
After the fight, Inoue and co-promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank teased a spring return to the United States where Inoue is expected to return to Las Vegas for the first time since he scored back-to-back knockouts of Jason Moloney and MIchael Dasmarinas in 2020 and 2021.
“I am pretty sure 2025 is going to be a big year for me,” Inoue said. “This will be the year for me to go overseas to get a big fight.”
The victory was Inoue’s fourth defense of his 122-pound crown since first debuting in the division in 2023 when he knocked out unbeaten, unified champion Stephen Fulton Jr.
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