Naoya Inoue vs Ye Joon Kim Prediction: the Champ Will Stay Undefeated

On 24 January in Japan, the current world champion Naoya Inoue will defend all his belts in a bout against South Korea's Ye Joon Kim. The fight will be in the second lightest weight category. The original mandatory challenger was Sam Goodman, but the fight was cancelled twice, and the organisers ran out of patience. At the last minute, he was replaced by Korean Ye Joon Kim, who'll be fighting for the belt (and all four at once) for the first time ever, and he's only ranked eleventh in the WBO.

Naoya Inoue

Naoya Inoue is already a legend in the eyes of Japanese fans. He's the current world champion in the lightweight and second lightweight divisions, and he's undefeated. He's been collecting belts for about a decade now, and in his last fight he knocked out TJ Doheny (26-4-0 at the time).

Ye Joon Kim

Ye Joon Kim has the IBF Asia title, which is his biggest achievement to date. He's riding a two-fight winning streak right now, and in his last fight he beat a boxer Rakesh Lohchab (15-3-1).

Expert Betting Tips

We really wanted to find some intrigue in this fight, and we did. The big question is whether the challenger will make it to the third round, but we're not convinced he will. The two of them are at completely different levels, and the bout's been scheduled so they can wrap it up quickly without Sam Goodman, who's been playing it cool. We're already set to fight Alan Picasso, so it's a done deal. That's all you need to know about the upcoming showdown for the title of absolute world champion.

Prediction:

W1 for 1.02

W1 by KO TKO Disq for 1.05

TU (3.5) for 1.91