News Monster Inoue vs Ye Joom Kim - January 24th Japan

[Misery Signals]

He does fight often but he'll likely need to beat multiple highly rated opponents to overtake Usyk in the rankings (unless Usyk loses). What he really needs are some big names on his resume alongside Donaire. Recognizable ones. That or he needs to jump up so far in weight that he can't be denied. Crawford is looking to do just that by fighting Canelo at SMW. If he were to win that fight then he'd surpass Usyk in the P4P rankings. Naturally the higher the risk, the higher the reward. Inoue has already moved up several divisions but he isn't giving up nearly as much weight as some of his fans seem to believe. The guy is almost 140 lbs on fight night even though he currently fights at 122.

Crawford is not even in the top 5 IMO. The guy barely fights anymore.

As far as names go, it's way easier to be a name at HW than lighter weights. More people are interested in the division but that doesn't make them better fighters. You pretty much just need to be a big guy with a right hand to be known.

And regardless of how much Inoue weighs, 3 out of 4 guys he's fought at 122 have been notably bigger than him. I dont think he's that far off personally.

 

[Blastbeat]

Are you saying its impossible for Inoue to get the top spot without Usyk failing? I had Inoue there already not too long ago and he can definitely take that spot. He fights more frequently for one and looks to be headed towards a fight with Nakatani. Usyk deserves to be where he is but is definitely not untouchable.

Well of course if Usyk takes off a whole year or loses then Inoue can take #1. But as of right now, Usyk is the king. Inoue is fighting more frequently but his resume is less solid overall than Usyk's. Not all that is Inoue's fault mind you. Goodman fucked up this fight.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Crawford is not even in the top 5 IMO. The guy barely fights anymore.

As far as names go, it's way easier to be a name at HW than lighter weights. More people are interested in the division but that doesn't make them better fighters. You pretty much just need to be a big guy with a right hand to be known.

And regardless of how much Inoue weighs, 3 out of 4 guys he's fought at 122 have been notably bigger than him. I dont think he's that far off personally.

Crawford isn't even in the Top 5 P4P? Of course he is. He's undefeated, a 4 division champ, and was undisputed in two weight classes. I disagree that it's way easier to become a recognizable name at heavyweight than at the lighter weights. Pac & Mayweather are the two biggest names of the last 20 odd years. Both are global icons, P4P greats, and were voted Fighter of the Decade in the 2000s & 2010s respectively.

Wladimir Klitschko had a fantastic right hand and yet nobody in the US cared about him. That's why he fought out of Germany. Wilder is known because he's American with a bazooka of a right hand that almost killed Fury in the first fight. Before Fury's undertaker moment in that fight nobody cared about Wilder even though he'd been knocking guys senseless for years. He wasn't popular at all prior to Fury 1.

Inoue is fighting guys that are bigger but so are the other top P4Pers. Usyk is literally giving up every single physical advantage that exists and everytime out. Canelo's done this for many years too and so has Loma. In Inoue's last fight he actually outweighed his opponent (Doheny) by a half pound.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Well of course if Usyk takes off a whole year or loses then Inoue can take #1. But as of right now, Usyk is the king. Inoue is fighting more frequently but his resume is less solid overall than Usyk's. Not all that is Inoue's fault mind you. Goodman fucked up this fight.

It isn't Inoue's fault that Goodman ruined the fight but it absolutely is his fault for not finding a higher rated replacement. He went from being scheduled to fight the #4 guy in the division to the #57 ranked guy. Ye Joon Kim isn't even Top 50. Opetaia pulled this shit recently when the Cinkara fight fell through. He went from being scheduled to face the #10 guy to fighting a guy that was barely Top 30. Both decided that they wanted a showcase opponent. That much is clear.

 

[Misery Signals]

Crawford isn't even in the Top 5 P4P? Of course he is. He's undefeated, a 4 division champ, and was undisputed in two weight classes. I disagree that it's way easier to become a recognizable name at heavyweight than at the lighter weights. Pac & Mayweather are the two biggest names of the last 20 odd years. Both are global icons, P4P greats, and were voted Fighter of the Decade in the 2000s & 2010s respectively.

Wladimir Klitschko had a fantastic right hand and yet nobody in the US cared about him. That's why he fought out of Germany. Wilder is known because he's American with a bazooka of a right hand that almost killed Fury in the first fight. Before Fury's undertaker moment in that fight nobody cared about Wilder even though he'd been knocking guys senseless for years. He wasn't popular at all prior to Fury 1.

Inoue is fighting guys that are bigger but so are the other top P4Pers. Usyk is literally giving up every single physical advantage that exists and everytime out. Canelo's done this for many years too and so has Loma. In Inoue's last fight he actually outweighed his opponent (Doheny) by a half pound.

I've never had Crawford at the top spot and his inactivity has dropped him down for me personally. You can rank him wherever you want.

If I was a HW it would be a lot easier for me to be a name that people know then if I was much lighter. I've met people who dont watch boxing that know who the Klitschko brothers are but couldn't name Featherweight. And Pac and Mayweather were at their most famous at their higher weight classes like welterweight, which is higher than I mean.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

I've never had Crawford at the top spot and his inactivity has dropped him down for me personally. You can rank him wherever you want.

If I was a HW it would be a lot easier for me to be a name that people know then if I was much lighter. I've met people who dont watch boxing that know who the Klitschko brothers are but couldn't name Featherweight. And Pac and Mayweather were at their most famous at their higher weight classes like welterweight, which is higher than I mean.

Crawford is only one of four guys in history to become a two-division undisputed champion. Activity aside ranking him outside of the top 5 when he's never lost and done all of that would be absurd. You won't find him ranked below it on any credible list. The Ring, TBRB, ESPN & BoxRec all have him firmly in the top 3 as I'm writing this. Usyk had only been fighting once a year for a long time up until he fought twice last year. That hasn't stopped anybody from ranking him #1. As long as they do fight at least once per year then not losing while continuing to beat the best is what matters most.

Sure, generally speaking the typical heavyweight will have more casual interest than the typical junior featherweight but Inoue isn't the latter. He's a generational talent and already one of the most recognizable names in the sport irrespective of his size. The Saudis just signed him which tells us all we really need to know. The only other big signing the Saudis have had to date is Usyk. Size also didn't keep Inoue from previously being rated P4P king recently nor did it stop Chocolatito from being crowned the consensus P4P king from 2015–2017.

 

[MMALOPEZ]

 

[MMALOPEZ]

 

[MMALOPEZ]

 

[pugilistico]

It isn't Inoue's fault that Goodman ruined the fight but it absolutely is his fault for not finding a higher rated replacement. He went from being scheduled to fight the #4 guy in the division to the #57 ranked guy. Ye Joon Kim isn't even Top 50. Opetaia pulled this shit recently when the Cinkara fight fell through. He went from being scheduled to face the #10 guy to fighting a guy that was barely Top 30. Both decided that they wanted a showcase opponent. That much is clear.

I know he was ranked 11 in the the WBO but 57? Jeez they couldn't found a higher ranked guy? Or was Kim the first who was willing to get KOed for a payday?

 

[Misery Signals]

Crawford is only one of four guys in history to become a two-division undisputed champion. Activity aside ranking him outside of the top 5 when he's never lost and done all of that would be absurd. You won't find him ranked below it on any credible list. The Ring, TBRB, ESPN & BoxRec all have him firmly in the top 3 as I'm writing this. Usyk had only been fighting once a year for a long time up until he fought twice last year. That hasn't stopped anybody from ranking him #1. As long as they do fight at least once per year then not losing while continuing to beat the best is what matters most.

Sure, generally speaking the typical heavyweight will have more casual interest than the typical junior featherweight but Inoue isn't the latter. He's a generational talent and already one of the most recognizable names in the sport irrespective of his size. The Saudis just signed him which tells us all we really need to know. The only other big signing the Saudis have had to date is Usyk. Size also didn't keep Inoue from previously being rated P4P king recently nor did it stop Chocolatito from being crowned the consensus P4P king from 2015–2017.

I don't know why you bothered typing most of that since it's not really what we were talking about. You think Usyk is miles and miles ahead of everyone else and I'm saying I dont think Inoue is that far behind. They both won the WBSS tournament, they both won all 4 belts in two consecutive divisions. I agree with Usyk having the top spot but with Inoue having more fights and KO's and dominant performances it's not crazy to suggest he could pull ahead in the future.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

I don't know why you bothered typing most of that since it's not really what we were talking about. You think Usyk is miles and miles ahead of everyone else and I'm saying I dont think Inoue is that far behind. They both won the WBSS tournament, they both won all 4 belts in two consecutive divisions. I agree with Usyk having the top spot but with Inoue having more fights and KO's and dominant performances it's not crazy to suggest he could pull ahead in the future.

When did I say that Usyk was miles ahead? Prior to him beating Fury I had Inoue as P4P king. He's still within striking distance but there are no big fights for him this year as far as we can tell. Tru School Sports pretty much summed it up below.

There will be no Inoue-Nakatani in 2025 and no Inoue at featherweight as well. Make of that what you will.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

I know he was ranked 11 in the the WBO but 57? Jeez they couldn't found a higher ranked guy? Or was Kim the first who was willing to get KOed for a payday?

Sanctioning body rankings have always been irrelevant other than to establish a mandatory contender for each org. It's the independent rankings that indicate where a fighter is actually rated within their division worldwide. They could've found a much higher rated replacement. All Team Inoue had to do was simply go down the list on BoxRec and contact each fighter's authorized representative to offer them the fight. On the site each individual fighter has their contact details listed.

Unless we're to naively believe that Team Inoue went through over 50 higher ranked fighters and they all somehow weren't available for the biggest opportunity of their respective career? They wanted a showcase fight. Like I said before Opetaia just pulled this same stunt when his initial opponent pulled out.

 

[Misery Signals]

When did I say that Usyk was miles ahead? Prior to him beating Fury I had Inoue as P4P king. He's still within striking distance but there are no big fights for him this year as far as we can tell. Tru School Sports pretty much summed it up below.

The original post I quoted stated that Inoue was #2 and couldn't get the top spot unless Usyk lost or retired. That sounds pretty far ahead to me. The only point I was trying to make is that I dont think he's so far behind that he cant catch up any other way.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

The original post I quoted stated that Inoue was #2 and couldn't get the top spot unless Usyk lost or retired. That sounds pretty far ahead to me. The only point I was trying to make is that I dont think he's so far behind that he cant catch up any other way.

That wasn't my post that was Blastbeat's. It also depends on who you ask. The Ring might think that Usyk is comfortably ahead but another publication may not think so. There are multiple P4P lists after all.

 

[MMALOPEZ]

 

[pugilistico]

Sanctioning body rankings have always been irrelevant other than to establish a mandatory contender for each org. It's the independent rankings that indicate where a fighter is actually rated within their division worldwide. They could've found a much higher rated replacement. All Team Inoue had to do was simply go down the list on BoxRec and contact each fighter's authorized representative to offer them the fight. On the site each individual fighter has their contact details listed.

Unless we're to naively believe that Team Inoue went through over 50 higher ranked fighters and they all somehow weren't available for the biggest opportunity of their respective career? They wanted a showcase fight. Like I said before Opetaia just pulled this same stunt when his initial opponent pulled out.

I'm just hoping Kim performs well enough for it to be somewhat of a fight. I doubt even he or his team believe he can win, but I hope he at least a few rounds and doesn't do a Paul Butler and run the whole fight.
Kim is just too slow and isn't defensively sound enough and neither does he have the power to bother Inoue though. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets knocked down in the first round.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

From the man himself. We'll be waiting a while before they fight.

Naoya Inoue on Nakatani showdown: 'Right Now, We Have Immediate Goals That Don't Involve Each Other'

 

[UFCIsNOTRigged]

Is Inoue seriously fighting the #59 ranked super bantamweight instead of Akhmadaliev?

 

[BluntForceTrama]

Kim’s a lot better than expected