Goodman out, South Korean Ye Joon Kim fills in against Naoya Inoue
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Earlier today it was announced that the already delayed bout between Undisputed Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25) and Australian challenger Sam Goodman (19-0, 8), originally scheduled for December 24th, had been cancelled again. As with the December date Goodman had suffered a cut, in sparring, around 2 weeks from the fight, forcing him to pull out. This time around, however, Inoue and and his promoter Hideyuki Ohashi had a plan B to fall on, and rather than postpone again, then fell back to that Plan B, and had a reserve opponent fill in for Goodman.
Instead it will be South Korean Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13) [김예준] who gets the unexpected shot at the Monster on 2 weeks notice.
At a press conference Ohashi announced Kim as Goodman’s replacement.
It’s worth noting that Ohashi has a long history with the South Korean boxing scene. He twice lost to the legendary Jung Koo Chang in the 1980's, starting a friendship that still exists, and also beat Hi Yong Choi in 1992 to become a 2-time world champion. More recently he has been working alongside Korean promoters in recent years, expanding his own Phoenix Battle series by taking it to Korea. It appears that relationship and history has allowed him to have Kim on standby for the bout.
As for Kim the fighter, the 32 year old is known as both Troublemaker and Pacquiweather, a portmanteau of Pacquiao and Mayweather. He has been a professional since 2012 and has been the standout Korean male fighter over the last decade or so. He started his career 3-1-1, suffering a loss in his second bout to Sa Myung Noh, before making his first appearance in a Japanese ring, beating Masatoshi Tomita, on a card headlined by Min Wook Kim beating Shinya Iwabuchi in a barn burner in an OPBF title fight in 2013. Since then he has gone 19-1-1, and scored more wins over Japanese fighters, including stopping Akira Matsumoto in Japan in 2014 and also beating Yoshiyuki Takabayashi, Yoshihiro Utsumi, Yuki Strong Kobayashi and Ryo Kosaka.
He showed in those bouts that he was a talented fighter, with good hand speed, and an intelligent defense. He lacks single punch, lights out power, but does have a style that involves a lot of defense in the pocket. At a lower level he has the speed, skills, and timing for it to work, but against Inoue it's unlikely to do anything other than allow Inoue to use him as target practice.
Notably Kim not just one of the most successful Korean fighters of recent years, but also one who is well travelled. Having fought in Japan, Mexico, Australia, Thailand and the US, where he suffered a notably upset loss to Rob Diezel in 2023. The loss to Diezel certainly is a black mark against him, especially given that was just 3 fights ago and comes at a much lower level than Inoue. Despite that loss Kim is world ranked by the WBO and seemingly was aware of his role as a potential substitute weeks ago, with Ohashi explaining he had secured one in a press conference several weeks ago.
Notably the once Korean boxing powerhouse has died in recent decades, and this will actually be the first world title bout with a Korean male since Jung Oh Son lost a controversial decision to Koki Kameda, back in 2013, for the WBA Regular Bantamweight title. Kim will clearly be a massive underdog, but it's also better that Inoue stays busy, especially after Goodman now suffering two injuries just weeks before scheduled bouts with the Monster.
Instead it will be South Korean Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13) [김예준] who gets the unexpected shot at the Monster on 2 weeks notice.
At a press conference Ohashi announced Kim as Goodman’s replacement.
It’s worth noting that Ohashi has a long history with the South Korean boxing scene. He twice lost to the legendary Jung Koo Chang in the 1980's, starting a friendship that still exists, and also beat Hi Yong Choi in 1992 to become a 2-time world champion. More recently he has been working alongside Korean promoters in recent years, expanding his own Phoenix Battle series by taking it to Korea. It appears that relationship and history has allowed him to have Kim on standby for the bout.
As for Kim the fighter, the 32 year old is known as both Troublemaker and Pacquiweather, a portmanteau of Pacquiao and Mayweather. He has been a professional since 2012 and has been the standout Korean male fighter over the last decade or so. He started his career 3-1-1, suffering a loss in his second bout to Sa Myung Noh, before making his first appearance in a Japanese ring, beating Masatoshi Tomita, on a card headlined by Min Wook Kim beating Shinya Iwabuchi in a barn burner in an OPBF title fight in 2013. Since then he has gone 19-1-1, and scored more wins over Japanese fighters, including stopping Akira Matsumoto in Japan in 2014 and also beating Yoshiyuki Takabayashi, Yoshihiro Utsumi, Yuki Strong Kobayashi and Ryo Kosaka.
He showed in those bouts that he was a talented fighter, with good hand speed, and an intelligent defense. He lacks single punch, lights out power, but does have a style that involves a lot of defense in the pocket. At a lower level he has the speed, skills, and timing for it to work, but against Inoue it's unlikely to do anything other than allow Inoue to use him as target practice.
Notably Kim not just one of the most successful Korean fighters of recent years, but also one who is well travelled. Having fought in Japan, Mexico, Australia, Thailand and the US, where he suffered a notably upset loss to Rob Diezel in 2023. The loss to Diezel certainly is a black mark against him, especially given that was just 3 fights ago and comes at a much lower level than Inoue. Despite that loss Kim is world ranked by the WBO and seemingly was aware of his role as a potential substitute weeks ago, with Ohashi explaining he had secured one in a press conference several weeks ago.
Notably the once Korean boxing powerhouse has died in recent decades, and this will actually be the first world title bout with a Korean male since Jung Oh Son lost a controversial decision to Koki Kameda, back in 2013, for the WBA Regular Bantamweight title. Kim will clearly be a massive underdog, but it's also better that Inoue stays busy, especially after Goodman now suffering two injuries just weeks before scheduled bouts with the Monster.