NAOYA Inoue is gearing up to face super-bantamweight contender Ye Joon Kim after his clash with Sam Goodman was cancelled for the second time.
The undisputed king was supposed to face his WBO and IBF mandatory challenger last month, headlining a card at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
However, after Goodman sustained a cut above his eye in sparring, their eagerly anticipated showdown was postponed to January 24.
And yet, yesterday it was announced by the Australian’s promoters, No Limit Boxing, that a recurrence of his eye injury has forced their bout to be cancelled once again.
Instead, it appears that Inoue, 28-0 (25 KOs), will defend his four major titles against South Korea’s Kim, 21-2-2 (13 KOs), who is ranked number 11 by the WBO but remains outside of the top 15 with the WBC, WBA and IBF.
The replacement opponent seemingly styles himself on two bona fide legends of the sport, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, going by the name of ‘Pacquiweather’ according to his Boxrec.
Other than that, there is little to suggest that the 32-year-old is ready for this formidable step-up in levels against ‘The Monster,’ one of boxing’s most lethal finishers.
But still, it was revealed by Kim’s manager, Mike Altamura, earlier this morning that he will take on the pound-for-pound star in just two weeks’ time.
At the time of writing, there has been no confirmation from Inoue himself nor his promoter, Top Rank, but it seems as though all four of his belts will be on the line against the late-notice opponent.
