6 hours Ago By Evening Standard
Inoue vs Kim LIVE! Naoya Inoue is an enormous favourite as he takes on Ye Joon Kim in Tokyo today. ‘The Monster’ makes the third defence of his undisputed super-bantamweight world titles on home soil at the Ariake Arena against a late replacement opponent who is hoping to produce one of the biggest upsets in recent boxing memory. Inoue was originally supposed to defend his belts against Sam Goodman on Christmas Eve, only for that bout to be postponed after the Australian sustained a cut above his eye while sparring.
The contest was pushed back until January 24 as a result, but Goodman then suffered a recurrence of the same injury to lead to another withdrawal and reserve Kim getting the call-up. Few give the South Korean challenger any real chance of dethroning the great and undefeated Inoue, one of the sport’s pound-for-pound kings and a two-time undisputed world champion who is known as one of its most devastating punchers. After being knocked down for the first time by Luis Nery and then seen a rather anticlimactic end to his last fight against TJ Doheny, Inoue will be out to deliver the complete performance here as he plots more big things in 2025.
Follow Inoue vs Kim live below! Naoya Inoue vs Ye Joon Kim latest news Toshiki Shimomachi vs Misaki Hirano 08:04 , George Flood A gruelling battle this through the first half between Toshiki Shimomachi and Misaki Hirano. A crisp, short right check hook from Shimomachi almost puts Hirano down in the fourth. Hirano’s gloves scrape the canvas and that should be a knockdown, but I think the referee thought he had slipped after overextending his right foot.
It was actually a peach of a punch. Toshiki Shimomachi vs Misaki Hirano 07:55 , George Flood A more competitive second, with some bright moments for Shimomachi, who did well to stay upright after catching a huge overhand right. Toshiki Shimomachi vs Misaki Hirano 07:54 The undercard action is already underway at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena.
It’s been a good start to a 10-rounder from Misaki Hirano, who is challenging Toshiki Shimomachi for the Japanese super-bantamweight title. Inoue vs Kim prediction 07:51 You certainly don’t envy Ye Joon Kim, who will surely be among the very biggest underdogs of the year - or indeed any year - on Friday. Facing a fearsome champion like Naoya Inoue is hard enough when you’ve had a long time to prepare, let alone having only got the call a couple of weeks earlier.
After the fight with TJ Doheny ended in low-key fashion as the Irishman retired due to injury, ‘The Monster’ will no doubt be hunting one of his signature ferocious knockouts as he bids to offer another reminder of his awesome power. Kim won’t be overawed and says Inoue has never faced someone like him before, but it would be among the biggest shocks in the sport’s history if he were to dethrone him here. Rather, we expect the home favourite to produce a typically vicious demolition job within the first couple of rounds.
Inoue to win by emphatic early knockout. Undercard and running order 07:49 , George Flood Naoya Inoue vs Ye Joon Kim Jin Sasaki vs Shoki Sakai Goki Kobayashi vs Yuni Takada Tsubasa Narai vs Kai Watanabe Toshiki Shimomachi vs Misaki Hirano How to watch Inoue vs Kim 07:48 , George Flood TV channel: In the UK, Inoue vs Kim is being shown live on Sky Sports+ from 7:30am GMT. Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can also catch the contest live online via the Sky Go app.
Inoue vs Kim start time 07:47 Today’s undercard in Tokyo gets underway in just a second with Toshiki Shimomachi vs Misaki Hirano. Main event ring walks are expected at the earlier time of 10:45am GMT, which is 7:45pm JST and 5:45am ET. Naoya Inoue vs Ye Joon Kim live 07:43 , George Flood Hello and welcome to Standard Sport’s live coverage of Naoya Inoue vs Ye Joon Kim.
‘The Monster’ returns to action at the Ariake Arena in Toyko today as he defends his undisputed super-bantamweight world titles for the third time against South Korea’s Ye Joon Kim, a late replacement for the injured Sam Goodman. Stay tuned for live coverage of that fight and today’s full undercard from Japan, which gets underway very soon..
