Promotional poster for the fight between Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue and South Korean Kim Ye-joon. –TR BOXING
South Korea’s Kim Ye-joon believes he can shock Japan’s unbeaten Naoya Inoue in their super-bantamweight world title fight next week despite having only a fortnight to prepare for the bout.
Kim was parachuted in last week as an 11th-hour replacement to face Inoue in Tokyo after the undisputed champion’s original challenger Sam Goodman was forced to pull out through injury.
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READ: Naoya Inoue to face Kim Ye-joon after Sam Goodman pulls out
The 32-year-old Kim is ranked No. 11 by the WBO in the super-bantamweight division but still believes he can cause an upset against “Monster” Inoue on January 24.
“I don’t think Inoue has ever faced a fighter like me before,” Kim said on Wednesday.
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“I can imagine what he’s thinking right now but I want to say that he’s completely wrong.
“I think he will understand what I’m saying when we get in the ring and we exchange punches for the first time.”
READ: Naoya Inoue hunger not yet sated after unifying second weight division
Kim goes into the fight as the rank outsider against Inoue, who has a 28-0 record with 25 knockouts.
The 31-year-old Japanese fighter is set to defend his super-bantamweight titles for the third time since becoming undisputed champion in December 2023.
He is just the second man to become undisputed world champion at two different weights since the four-belt era began in 2004. American Terence Crawford was the first.
Kim, who grew up in care and did not take up boxing until he was 20, has a career record of 21 wins and two defeats with 13 knockouts and two draws.
South Korea has not had a world boxing champion in more than 15 years and Kim said he was ready to break the drought against Inoue.
“I’ve been studying him for a long time, and I practice as if I’m going to face him,” Kim said.
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“All my practice and all my fighting patterns are based on fighting Inoue.”
