Fight fans the world over will be treated to another “Monster” show this Friday (Jan 24) in Tokyo, Japan. Pound-for-pound best on the planet, Naoya Inoue will face possibly dangerous late-replacement foe Ye Joon-Kim as he defends his collection of 122 pound belts. A late-sub for the incredibly unfortunate Sam Goodman, South Korea’s Joon-Kim is saying all the right things going into the upcoming fight at the Ariake Arena.
Joon-Kim, who carries the standout nickname of “Pacqui-weather,” this in tribute to his two favourite fighters, also carries punching power, and we could see an exciting fight on Friday. For a while at least. Inoue, perfect at 28-0(25) and, in the opinion of plenty, a perfect fighting machine, is of course a huge favourite to not only win on Friday but to win by KO. Joon-Kim, who is 21-2-2(13) is a year older than Inoue at age 32 and he has never been stopped, and the challenger says that Inoue will get a surprise when he swaps punches with him.
“I don’t think Inoue has ever faced a fighter like me before,” Joon-Kim said recently. “I can imagine what he’s thinking right now but I want to say that he’s completely wrong. I think he will understand when we get in the ring, and we exchange punches for the first time. I’ve been studying him for a long time, and I practice as if I’m going to face him. All my practice and all my fighting patterns are based on fighting Inoue.”
The main event — plus a welterweight co-feature between Jin Sasaki and Shoki Sakai — will stream live on ESPN + starting at 4:15 a.m. ET/1:15 a.m. PT.
It’s curious that Joon-Kim says he has “studied” Inoue “for a long time,” as before he got the surprise call for the fight, Joon-Kim was nowhere at all on Inoue’s radar. It seems it’s simply luck (bad luck on the part of Goodman) that Joon-Kim has got this big fight. In any case, the big outsider now has to make everything he possibly can out of his big, big chance. From what he’s said, it seems Joon-Kim is certain he carries the kind of power, that he throws the kind of punches that can trouble Inoue. We will see.
Inoue really does seem to have zero weaknesses, and this includes his ability to take a good shot if and when one does get through. It would be insane to go against Inoue here, but Joon-Kim carries that dangerous element of having absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. In terms of sheer motivation, there seems to be no way Inoue can be as pumped up and as excited as his challenger is going into Friday’s fight.
Again, something suggests this fight could be explosive. While it lasts. Inoue has to be the pick to win, most likely by mid-rounds KO, this as Inoue always uses a round or two, or more, in which to download data on the man in front of him. But if he’s as good as his word, Joon-Kim will go down swinging, giving it his all.
What an monstrous upset it really would be if Joon-Kim managed to shock the world, Buster Douglas style!
