January 24: Undisputed Super Bantamweight King Naoya Inoue to face late replacement Ye Joon Kim LIVE on ESPN+
The Monster Show must go on.
Naoya Inoue will now defend his undisputed super bantamweight crown against Korean challenger Ye Joon Kim on Friday, Jan. 24, at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
Inoue was scheduled to face undefeated Australian contender Sam Goodman, who withdrew from the bout twice due to cuts sustained in sparring. Kim, who is 2-0 on Japanese soil, stepped in on short notice to face the pound-for-pound stalwart.
Inoue-Kim and the welterweight co-feature between Jin Sasaki and Shoki Sakai will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+ starting at 4:15 a.m. ET/1:15 a.m. PT.
Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) began his four-belt legacy in December 2022 when he stopped Paul Butler to unify all the bantamweight titles.
Then, within a little over a year, the 31-year-old knocked out WBC/WBO champ Stephen Fulton in July 2023 and WBA/IBF king Marlon Tapales that December to achieve undisputed glory in a second weight class.
He made history again last May by headlining the first boxing card at the Tokyo Dome since the historic Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas showdown, overcoming a first-round knockdown before icing former two-division world champion Luis Nery in six.
In September, he registered a seventh-round TKO over one-time junior featherweight king TJ Doheny.
Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) turned pro in 2012 and has spent most of his career fighting in Korea.
He is a former IBF Asia super bantamweight champion who has won two straight since a majority decision defeat to veteran Rob Diezel in Auburn, Washington.
Kim picked up the WBO Oriental super bantamweight crown last May in Bangkok, Thailand, knocking out Rakesh Lohchab in the fifth round. He is currently ranked No. 11 in the world by the WBO.