Inoue stops Kim to strengthen pound-for-pound credentials

With a devastating fourth-round stoppage victory over the overmatched Ye Joon Kim, Japanese world champion Naoya Inoue successfully defends his undisputed super-bantamweight title.

At Tokyo’s Ariake Arena, Kim took control of the opening matches before intensifying the pressure and dropping him with a flush right.

The Korean challenger, who took the fight at just 11 days ‘ notice, valiantly attempted to get up on the count of 10 but the 32-year-old was saved from further damage as the referee halted the contest.

Nicknamed ‘ Monster ‘ for his outstanding knockout ratio, unbeaten Inoue defended his WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine titles with a 26th stoppage in 29 professional wins.

“I didn’t have enough time to study my opponent so I took some time to see what’s coming from him”, Inoue said.

Inoue is a four-weight world champion and arguably boxing’s number one pound-for-pound boxer.

He holds the title of undisputed champion at two-weight, having won all four of his bantamweight titles.

Before the Australian twice withdrew due to injury, Inoue was originally scheduled to fight Sam Goodman in December and again in January.

Earlier in the week, stand-in opponent Kim boldly predicted he would “crush” Inoue and cause one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

However, As Inoue began to land straight rights through Southpaw Kim’s guard, the class gap quickly became apparent.

Kim’s third-party combination gave him a quick burst of success because he had swelling under his right eye. The challenger’s willingness to let his hands go, however, invited counters from Inoue.

Inoue will now make his first appearance in Las Vegas since 2021, despite the fact that his previous eight fights have been in Japan.

Unbeaten Mexican Alan David Picasso is being considered as a potential opponent in April.

WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani and his much-anticipated all-Japanese showdown could follow.