Rise early and watch a monster in action – Naoya Inoue is back

Getting up with the worms can sometimes be a pleasure.

Why?

Naoya Inoue AKA the Monster, is back.

Who’s he fighting?

It won’t be undefeated challenger Sam Goodman who postponed the bout once due to a cut eye. The match was officially canceled several weeks ago due to the same cut.

Can’t say I blame him. The Monster would have targeted the eye instantly. That’s what monsters do. Goodman is a good fighter. He’ll likely get his chance another time.

Stepping in on short notice (a few weeks) is Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) from South Korea. Joon-Kim is 32, a year older than Inoue. One of his losses was to a fighter with nine setbacks in 23 fights. Nine.

Joon-Kim is confident he can pull off the upset of the century.

“I don’t think Inoue has ever faced a fighter like me before,” said Joon-Kim. “I can imagine what he’s thinking right now but I want to say that he’s completely wrong. I think he will understand when we get in the ring, and we exchange punches for the first time. I’ve been studying him for a long time, and I practice as if I’m going to face him.”

Practice makes perfect?

Inoue wants a good fight.

“I am hoping for an exciting match,” Inoue told Top Rank’s Camp Life. “This is what I hope rather than predicting.”

Inoue has had some exciting fights recently. Stephen Fulton came to Japan confident and undefeated.

“I feel like I’m just gonna show swag in this fight, show style, show class,” Fulton said before the fight. “I feel like the power [he has] is not gonna matter to me. The power may matter to the fans because they’re looking at the records, but who has he fought of my style?

We’ve seen everyone [he’s faced] come to him and try to dog him out and get hit with some crazy shot. They haven’t seen him fight someone who can mix it up. They all gonna be speechless after this fight.”

Not really. Strong words can only go so far. Fulton tried to box, but the relentless Inoue was stalking. In round eight, Fulton went down twice – prompting the referee to stop the fight. Fulton hasn’t looked the same since losing.

Inoue knocked out Marlon Tapales. Next up was former super bantamweight champion Luis Nery.

“I’m the only one who can beat Inoue because I have good power,” Nery told Collin Harrison of japan-forward.com a few weeks before the bout.

Inoue had to agree. In the opening round, a sweeping left spun Inoue to the canvas. He got up quickly, his eyes clear. Nery threw bombs, but nothing else landed.

A more intense Inoue was back in control a few minutes later – scoring a knockdown with a short left hook. Inoue repeated the feat in round five with the same punch.

A round later, he ended matters with a right hand. The win was his 28th in succession, 25th by knockout.

Jee-Kim deserves credit for lacing them up against Inoue. Even though some fans aren’t pleased with Inoue’s virtually unknown opponent, I suggest fans get up early to watch a great fighter in action.