Japan's Naoya Inoue was originally supposed to take on Sam Goodman, but the unbeaten 26-year-old from Australia was withdrawn from the card twice due to injuries
Japanese fighter Naoya Inoue will put his four super bantamweight belts, namely The Ring, IBF, WBC, and WBO Junior Featherweight Championship, on the line when he faces off against South Korean Ye Joon Kim in a 12-round clash at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo on Friday, January 24, 2025. (More Sports News)
🦩Inoue was originally supposed to take on Sam Goodman, but the unbeaten 26-year-old from Australia was withdrawn from the card twice due to injuries. Severe lacerations that Goodman suffered in sparring unfortunately re-opened after the initial date was postponed to January 24.
🐼Nevertheless, Ye Joon Kim stepped in and the fight is perhaps the chance of a lifetime for the 32-year-old South Korean. Expectedly, Inoue is the overwhelming bookies' favourite, going into the fight, given his pedigree and experience. But you never know what happens, when the competitors take the ring.
༒Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) will look to secure his 10th straight knockout. As for prize money, though the official purses for boxing matches are not made public until after the event, Inoue's guaranteed purse will reportedly be 1.5 million US dollars, plus 70% of the pay-per-view (PPV), which could amount to 7 million dollars based on 750,000 PPV sales.
✤On the other hand, Ye Joon Kim is aiming for a base 500,000 US dollars, plus 1.2 million US dollars for 30% of the PPV, which promoter Top Rank has with the official rights.
♊The card will also have Jin Sasaki facing Shoki Sakai in a welterweight bout, and Goki Kobayashi meeting Yuni Takada in a minimumweight bout. Further, Toshiki Shimomachi takes on Misaki Hirano in a matchup of super bantamweight contenders, and Tsubasa Narai locks horns with Kai Watanabe in a 10-round lightweight bout.
When and where will the Naoya Inoue vs Ye Joon Kim fight be held?
✃The Naoya Inoue vs Ye Joon Kim fight will be held at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo on Friday, January 24, 2025 at around 4:45pm IST.
Where will the Naoya Inoue vs Ye Joon Kim fight be live streamed and telecast?
𒊎The Naoya Inoue vs Ye Joon Kim fight will be live streamed on the ESPN+ platform. It will not be telecast on any TV channel in India.