This Friday from the Ariake Arena in Japan, undisputed junior featherweight champion, Naoya Inoue, defends his crown against late replacement Ye Joon (no relation) Kim. To say that this Korean is a heavy underdog would be a vast understatement.
I asked my friend who runs the Twitter/X account, @Fight_Ghost, about the odds on this match-up. He's a guy who keeps track of such things for ummm..... 'entertainment purposes', only.
He answered via text, "Lol. 100 to 1." A bit later he told me that Inoue,''Started 66 to 1 favorite." Yeah, so the reality is that the bettors didn't even find value at that number. But here's the kicker from @Fight_Ghost, "Now 125 to 1 fave. Thanks Sam Goodman."
Top Rank
To paraphrase Larry Merchant, 'this would make Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas look like a sad story."
For Kim, the real victory is in suddenly landing this career-high payday out of nowhere. Sometimes, just getting the assignment is a win.
Yeah, this is a mismatch but it has to be pointed out that Goodman (who was his IBF and WBO mandatory) was the original opponent. Goodman is currently rated third by Ring Magdazine in their junior featherweight rankings. He was a respectable opponent, who was slated to face Inoue in December, before he got cut in his last day of sparring before he was set to depart to 'the Land of the Rising Sun'.
Team Inoue
Fortunately for him this contest was rescheduled for this Friday. But then Goodman got cut again, and it was at that point that Kim was put in there as an 11th hour replacement. The reality is that Goodman couldn't make it to the dance, and Inoue is a rarity among modern day boxers -- one who believes in activity.
This time the show had to go on without him.
If Goodman was able to fulfill his obligations in December, it would've been Inoue's third bout of 2024. Last year he took care of the dangerous Luis Nery after an early trip to the canvas in May, and then he defeated TJ Doheny in September.
Moving forward, if the unforeseen doesn't take place, it looks like 'the Monster' will make his return to America in the spring (David 'the Artist' Picasso is being mentioned as the dance partner) and then showdown with a guy who many believe is his toughest remaining contender at 122, Murodjon 'MJ' Akhmadaliev.
And then, who knows, maybe Inoue will then climb up another weight class and see what the featherweight division has to offer him. Or maybe by 2025, he has a showdown versus his countrymen, Junto Nakatani, the current WBC bantamweight belt-holder.
Yeah, Inoue should take care of business on Friday fairly easy. In many ways Kim isn't his opponent but really Inoue himself. Truly elite boxers perform to their own standards regardless of who they face. That's what separates them from the pack. Show me an inconsistent fighter, and I'll show you one that isn't truly great.
For many fans, Inoue is appointment viewing -- even if he fights in the early mornings for Stateside fans of the sport. No matter who he faces Inoue generally puts on a very good show. He doesn't just win, he entertains. Yeah, this is a lopsided affair, but keep this in mind, the opportunities to watch world-class boxers nowadays is rare as I've pointed out. But do Dodger fans complain when they face a last place team in May, or are they glad that they see their team in action on a consistent basis?
Naoya Inoue
Inoue is now 31 years old, still very much in his physical prime. But there is now a realization that at this juncture, he is now closer to the end of this career than the beginning. There will be bigger and more important fights on the horizon for Inoue after this one. They say that anything can happen when two fighters are in the ring hurling punches at one another.
But the chances of seeing an upset on Friday?
Johnny Somali has better odds of being elected the president of South Korea.
3KR
This week on 'the 3 Knockdown Rule', Mario Lopez and I preview Inoue-Kim, and discuss everything else in the world of boxing:
THE 3 KNOCKDOWN RULE EPISODE 72 | THE MONSTER RETURNS
To subscribe on your preferred podcast platform, hit the Linktree:
https://linktr.ee/3knockdownrule
