Naoya Inoue next fight: 'The Monster' set for Las Vegas showdown after Ye Joon Kim knockout
Naoya Inoue next fight: 'The Monster' set for Las Vegas showdown after Ye Joon Kim knockout
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Naoya Inoue is set to head back to the United States for a fight in Las Vegas this spring. The reigning men’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion has not competed in the USA since June 2021, when he retained his unified bantamweight world titles with a third-round knockout of Michael Dasmarinas at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
Inoue had stopped Jason Moloney at the MGM Grand eight months earlier, also emphatically beating Antonio Nieves at Dignity Health Sports Park in California on what was an impressive Stateside debut in September 2017. Aside from those three fights and an early knockout of Emmanuel Rodriguez in Glasgow in May 2019, every other contest in ‘The Monster’s’ 29-fight professional career to date has come on home soil in Japan, including Friday’s fourth-round stoppage of South Korea’s Ye Joon Kim - a late replacement opponent for Sam Goodman - that saw him retain his super-bantamweight belts for the third time.
However, after his latest knockout win promoter and Top Rank chief Bob Arum reiterated that Inoue would be heading back to the US after a near four-year absence this spring as part of huge plans for 2025. "I just want to say another great performance by our champion here," Arum said in the ring after Inoue stopped the overmatched Kim with a devastating straight right hand in round four.
"And I observed that the great country of Japan has given (baseball star) [Shohei] Ohtani to the city of Los Angeles, and at least for one fight, the great country of Japan will give this great Inoue to the city of Las Vegas for one fight this spring.".
