Inoue KOs Ye Joon Kim After Goodman Withdraws Again
Naoya Inoue’s planned Christmas Eve title defense against Australia’s Sam Goodman was postponed after Goodman suffered a cut above his left eye in sparring. The fight was rescheduled for January 24, 2025, but a recurrence of the injury forced Goodman to withdraw again. After Goodman withdrew again with an eye cut, Inoue instead faced South Korea’s Ye Joon Kim in Tokyo on January 24, 2025, and stopped him in the fourth round.
Why the Inoue–Goodman fight moved
Inoue, Japan’s undisputed super bantamweight champion, was set to meet Goodman at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena on December 24, 2024. Goodman’s first eye cut during final sparring led organizers to postpone the bout by a month. The World Boxing Council confirmed the new January 24 date, while ESPN reported the initial postponement and the injury that caused it.
On January 10, Goodman’s promoter said the eye injury had recurred, ending the matchup for a second time. Inoue accepted a late replacement: Kim, who stepped in on short notice. The repeated change altered the event’s central storyline, but the title defense remained scheduled in Tokyo.
Inoue stops Ye Joon Kim in round four
Inoue controlled the fight against Kim and finished it with a right hand in the fourth round on January 24. The result gave Inoue another successful defense of his undisputed 122-pound championship. The WBC’s ringside report records the fourth-round knockout and notes that Kim had accepted the bout with less than two weeks to prepare.
The outcome should not be confused with the originally advertised Inoue–Goodman contest: the two did not meet on either scheduled date. Goodman’s withdrawal was attributed to the recurring eye injury, and the late replacement delivered the bout that ultimately took place.
The matchup that remains
Before the postponements, the matchup paired Inoue’s explosive finishing ability with Goodman’s unbeaten record and status as a leading contender. Goodman had earned a mandatory title opportunity, while Inoue was pursuing another defense of the four major belts. Those were the stakes of the planned fight, not the result of a contest that never happened.
Sources: WBC: rescheduled date and first injury; ESPN: Goodman’s second withdrawal; WBC: Inoue–Kim result.
Sources
Tags: Boxing, Combat Sports
