THIS year is just a month old, yet there have already been a couple of dreadful world championship mismatches that could easily have led to dire consequences. A week ago, I watched through my fingers as Naoya Inoue defended his four world super-bantamweight titles in Tokyo. Inoue was supposed to have met his mandatory challenger Sam Goldman but the American was twice forced to pull out because of a cut eye.

A national hero in Japan, and easily their most famous sportsman, they don’t call Inoue “The Monster” for nothing — he terrorises opponents and flattens them with freakish power for a man who weighs less than nine stone. Many believe, pound for pound, he is an even better fighter than both Terence Crawford and Artur Beterbiev. Inoue had ruthlessly won all but three of his 28 fights by knockout — and his promoters didn’t want to disappoint the 15,000 sell-out crowd or the worldwide TV audience with a cancellation.

And they managed to find enough money to persuade journeyman Ye Joon Kim, a willing South Korean masochist, to risk life and limb against the undisputed champ. There was no doubt looking at Kim’s fearful expression and body language as he stood in the ring waiting for the opening bell in the Ariake Arena, that he appeared to be terrified. He is more used to fighting men with 15-9 records and must have been wondering how soon an explosion was about to go off in his face.

If anyone fancied having a bet on Inoue, he was a 1-35 favourite — Kim had about as much chance of survival as a cockapoo being thrown into a lion’s cage at feeding time. BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS. Inoue mercifully didn’t take liberties — he could have seriously hurt Kim but he went through the motions of a sparring session for nine minutes. In the fourth, he decided he’d put on enough of a show for his fans and it was time to finish the farce.

Backing up Kim, he put an end to the miserable affair with a single shot — a perfectly-timed straight right to the chin that left the Korean in a heap. There was a more worrying outcome two weeks before, when Aussie Jai Opetaia defended his IBF cruiserweight crown against a late substitute in Queensland. Opetaia had won 20 of his 26 fights by KO and may be the best of the three cruiserweight world champions.

Stepping in with him after just three weeks notice was Kiwi David Nyika — virtually a novice despite having won all his ten fights. Kim had about as much chance of survival as a cockapoo being thrown into a lion’s cage at feeding time. Brave Nyika tried to make a battle of it but Opetaia was too good for him. Nyika, dazed by a combination of head punches, was defenceless when the US referee allowed Opetaia to land a crushing fourth-round left hook to his chin — described by one reporter as possibly the most chilling KO of the year.

Nyika lay on the canvas for five minutes as the medics worked feverishly to revive him. Thankfully he recovered and was able to walk unaided to his dressing room but it was a close-run thing. The governing bodies — WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO — must stop collecting sanction fees and appeasing promoters and TV companies by allowing elite fighters being fed totally inadequate opponents. It will only lead to disaster.