German boxing media Kim Ye-joon positively evaluated the world title challenge
German boxing media Kim Ye-joon positively evaluated the world title challenge
Blog Article
While a South Korean male boxer is aiming for the top of the world in 3,350 days (9 years, 2 months and 1 day), Central Europe's most prestigious magazine saw the boxer as having objective qualifications.
At Ariake Arena in Tokyo (1.5 million people), the competition will begin at 3:20 p.m. on January 24, hosted by Ohashi Promotion and organized and recognized by the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC). The main event is the combined title match of the super bantamweight (55.3kg) between Naoya Inoue (32), the champion, and Kim Ye-joon (33), the challenger.
The match will begin at 7:45 p.m. ET. The CJ ENM Entertainment division will air the championship match with Kim Ye-joon to Korean viewers of tvN SPORTS from 8:30 p.m. ET on Jan. 24, under a contract with the U.S. Top Rank, which is in charge of Naoya Inoue's global agency.
JBC's Naoya Inoue is the champion of the World Boxing Council (WBC), the World Boxing Organization (WBO), the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the International Boxing Federation (IBF). Kim Ye-joon, a Korean Boxing Commission (KBM) player, will participate in the WBO super bantamweight division in 11th place.
German magazine "VoxSport Magachin," which boasts 105 years of history, explained to the reader, "Nao Yue faced a new challenge. As Sam Goodman (27, Australia), who was the opponent of IBF and WBO's super bantamweight defense war, was absent due to injury, Kim Ye-joon of South Korea came forward as a substitute."
Sam Goodman served as WBO Asian Champion and IBF Intercontinental Champion. Originally scheduled to challenge Naoya Inoue on December 24, 2024, he injured his eye. The injury recurred after being postponed to January 24, 2025.
Naoya Inoue, a mandatory challenger designated by the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Organization, was set to play the title defense match, but it was canceled because the left eye was torn twice.
"Vox Shuport Magachin" introduced Kim Ye-jun, "He has a lot of experience with 21 wins (13KO) in professional competitions, two draws and two losses. He made a name for himself through his unique style of game management." In other words, he had a presence on the global stage even before he gained huge fame through his world championship match with Naoya Inoue.
Naoya Inoue is a top star in the 2020s, ranking No. 1 in the official exclusive media 'Voxrek' P4P (regardless of weight class). Since 2014, he has dominated the four weight classes: ▲WBC Lightfly Class (49kg) ▲WBO Junior Bantam Class (52.2kg) ▲WBA IBF WBO Bantam Class (53.5kg) ▲WBC WBO WBA IBF Super Bantam Class.
At the super bantamweight division, △ April 2014 WBC Youth (under 23) Champion △ March 2015 IBF Asia Champion △ May 2024 WBO Asian Champion. The International Boxing Federation Asian title was successful until the third defense in November 2016.
Only TOP15 can receive the right to challenge for a world title match. Kim Ye-joon, ranking 11th in the WBO super bantamweight division, is not listed in the WBA WBC IBF world ranking. This is why critics say he has legitimacy to compete for the unified throne of major teams.
Of course, starting with the World Boxing Council on January 14, the International Boxing Federation on the 22nd and the World Boxing Association on the 23rd recognized Kim Ye-joon's qualification for the title match by producing his own promotional image or updating the schedule, but the meaning of favorable reports from Europe's leading professional media is different.
"I ended both my previous matches early. Just like his nickname "Troublemaker," he causes trouble for opponents." Kim Ye-joon won TKO in 2:58 of the first round in Molburn, Australia, and in Bangkok, Thailand in just one minute of the fifth round.
The Japanese newspaper Sports Nippon introduced Kim Ye-joon as "the Japanese killer who won all seven games against Korea and Japan." It also noted that Naoya Inoue, which is rare in sports where Korea vs Japan is common in various sports, is the first Korea-Japan match in 29 games since his professional boxing debut.
Kim Ye-jun said, "I'm training with the idea of winning no matter what. I think the time has come to show why Korean boxers are strong. Please give me a lot of support so that I can feel all the energy of our country. Then I'll show you."
"I adjusted my condition by sparring with Jason Mulroney of Australia," Kim Ye-joon said through the Ohashi Promotion. Naoya Inoue has always studied under the assumption of a showdown. "I want to display all my strength to secure the biggest win in my career with the eighth victory in a match between Korea and Japan," he told the Japanese media.
Jason Mulroney served as the WBO bantamweight champion (53.5 kg). On Feb. 24, he will also compete against the WBO Asia-Pacific champion NASCAR and Denshin (27) of Japan, who were kickboxing superstars in the mid-to-late 2010s at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. He is a perfect training partner for Kim Ye-jun.
Sports Nippon said, "Sam Goodman with a KO win rate of 42.1 percent (8/19) is considered a virtuoso. As 61.9 percent (13/21) of the KO win rate suggests, Kim Ye-joon does not hesitate to fight." "There is a concern that Naoya Inoue may be somewhat shaken psychologically due to the change in the match that took place 13 days before the match." 안전놀이터
Jason Mulroney has a painful memory of challenging Naoya Inoue, the unified WBA IBF bantamweight champion, in October 2020 and losing to KO in the seventh round. This experience will be a good reference for Kim Ye-joon, who will face the same opponent after 1547 days (4 years, 2 months and 25 days).
Kim Ye-joon is expected to figure out how to lead the super bantamweight world integration championship by adding his usual study of Naoya Inoue and the information he got from Jason Mulroney.
Naoya Inoue has been undefeated for 4,355 days (11 years, 11 months and 2 days) since his debut in October 2012. The 89.3 percent KO victory rate (25/28) is breaking even common sense that lightweight division has less destructive power. However, Kim Ye-joon has never lost a KO as well.
However, Ohashi said, "There is no change in our plans to participate in Las Vegas in the U.S. in April and Saudi Arabia in the fall of 2025. The contenders are Alan Picasso of Mexico and Murozon Ahmadaliyev of Uzbekistan," adding, "I have no idea that Naoya Inoue could lose to Kim Ye-jun.
Alan Picasso is the No. 1 WBC super bantamweight ranking, while Murozon Ahmadaliyev is the WBA super bantamweight provisional champion. Sports Nippon predicted, "Noya Inoue will beat Kim Ye-joon coolly and cheerfully to continue his momentum with overseas big matches in 2025."
Kim Ye-joon passed the competition on Jan. 23, 2025. He will be the first Korean to participate in a men's boxing world champion match since Bae Young-gil (46), who participated as a challenger in the WBC minimum weight match (47.6 kg) in November 2015.
The WBA WBC IBF WBO is one of the four major professional competitions. The last Korean male world champion is Ji In-jin (52), who became the WBC featherweight (57.2 kg) throne in December 2006.
Later, in August 2010, Kim Ji-hoon (38) participated in the IBF lightweight (61.2kg) championship match, and in November 2013, Son Jung-oh (44) became the WBA bantamweight title challenger.
However, all Korean men's attempts to become the best boxer after their acquaintances, including ▲ Kim Ji-hoon's unanimous decision loss ▲ Son Jung-oh's 1-2 decision loss ▲ Bae Young-gil's 9th round TKO loss, failed.