Naoya Inoue, the undefeated world junior featherweight champion, dominated Ye-Joon Kim with a fourth-round knockout on Friday, setting up his next fight in the United States.
Inoue (29-0, 26 KOs), 31, nicknamed “The Monster,” ended Kim’s tough challenge with a powerful right hand to defend his four world titles at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Inoue, who has held world championships in four weight classes, is a favorite among many boxing fans and proved why with a stunning knockout. This victory is expected to be the first of three fights for Inoue in 2025, with upcoming bouts in Las Vegas and Saudi Arabia.
Kim called Inoue forward in Round 4, but just moments later, he was knocked down by a right hand to the temple. The WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO 122-pound champion won easily in his 24th consecutive title defense and 10th straight stoppage.
“I’m pretty sure 2025 is going to be the big year for me,” Inoue said.
“In my opinion, it was a good match, but I didn’t have enough time to study my opponent, so I just took some time to see what he had to offer.”
Ranked No. 3 in ESPN’s latest pound-for-pound list, Inoue is now focused on bigger fights later this year. He might face Mexican Alan Picasso (31-0-1, 16 KOs), the WBC’s No. 1 challenger, in Las Vegas, according to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger.
Another potential matchup for the five-foot-five Inoue is against fellow Japanese boxer Junto Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs), the WBC world bantamweight champion, who trains in Los Angeles.
Nakatani, 27, a three-weight world champion, will defend his title against David Cuellar Contreras in Japan on February 24. After Inoue’s win over Kim, promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank confirmed that Inoue will fight in Las Vegas in the spring.
“I just want to say another great performance by our champion here,” Arum said.
“And I observed that the great country of Japan has given [Shohei] Ohtani to the city of Los Angeles, and at least for one fight, the great country of Japan will give this great Inoue to the city of Las Vegas for one fight this spring.”
Inoue talks about his future fights
Inoue’s last fight in the U.S. was in 2021 when he knocked out Michael Dasmarinas in three rounds to defend his world bantamweight titles in Las Vegas. “2025 is the year for me to go overseas to fight,” Inoue said. “I’m planning to have a fight in Las Vegas and Saudi Arabia this year.”
“How complete am I? I’m not sure, but the only thing I can do is to get better each time I get in the ring. So, I’m going to fulfill my career until the end.”
Kim (21-3-2, 13 KOs) from South Korea, who wasn’t well-known, stepped in to fight Inoue on just two weeks’ notice after Australian Sam Goodman withdrew due to injury before their scheduled fight on Christmas Eve.
Kim came out in Round 1 using a defensive approach and the southpaw stance, but he faced more pressure in Round 2.
Inoue caught Kim with a short right hook when Kim was trapped in a corner and then landed a series of fast punches later in the second round.
By Round 3, Kim’s right eye had swollen from Inoue’s strikes, but Kim fought back in Round 4. That led to a strong response from Inoue, who fired off a combination of punches and knocked Kim down with a right hand, ending the fight.
In another fight on the card, Jin Sasaki won a unanimous decision (116-112, 118-110, 117-111) after a tough battle against Shoki Sakai, staying in the running for bigger welterweight bouts.
Sasaki (19-1-1, 17 KOs), 23, from Tokyo, took some hits as the two traded uppercuts in an exciting match.
Sasaki landed more punches, especially left hooks to the body, and an overhand right stunned Sakai (29-15-3, 15 KOs), 34, in Round 11. Sasaki, who is ranked No. 3 by the IBF and WBO and No. 4 by the WBA and WBC, called for a chance to fight one of the world champions in the welterweight division.
In the minimum weight (strawweight) division, Yuni Takada (16-8-3, 6 KOs) won a split decision (113-114, 116-111, 114-113) against Goki Kobayashi (8-2, 5 KOs), getting closer to a potential world title shot.
