January 24th-The monster returns to face Kim

1/21/2025

Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, Tokyo, Japan
The end of 2024 was a disappointing one for fans of big Japanese shows, with two major changes to the scheduled plans for late December. The biggest of those saw a card scheduled for December 24th being postponed, thankfully that was just pushed back a month, and we were set to get the same card this coming Friday. We say we were set, but that was before two issues arose afterwards.

The main event was supposed to see Undisputed Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25) take on IBF mandatory challenger Sam Goodman (19-0, 8). This was the bout that forced the show to be pushed back a month originally, with Goodman suffering a cut in his final sparring session. Sadly Goodman suffered another cut before the rescheduled date and was replaced at short notice, by reserve fighter Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13) from South Korea. Goodman would have been a mandatory, though his pull out, under 2 weeks from the show, leaves the mandatory situation unclear at the time of writing, and whilst his replacement is a huge downgrade we’re glad to see Inoue back in the ring, especially after issues in the past that have kept him out of the ring. With the plan being for Inoue to fight 4 times this year, we suspect many will forget this fight at the end of the year, however a fighter being active is a good thing, and one weak opponent, on 2 weeks notice, is better than not fighting at all.

Although a win over Kim is rather meaningless for Inoue’s legacy, wins against then unified champions Stephen Fulton and Marlon Tapales, Luis Nery and TJ Doheny already have him a cut above the rest at 122lbs, and with a mandatory against Murodjon Akhmadaliev planned for later in the year it’s clear this will be little more than a tune up and stay busy before facing “MJ”.

Sadly the main event wasn’t the only bout which was taken over by injury issues, with a planned WBO Bantamweight world title defense between unbeaten champion Yoshiki Takei (10-0, 8) and Thai challenger Yuttapong Tongdee (15-0, 9) being cancelled when Takei was injured in training. This leaves a good card, looking a bit weak overall, though the rest of the show is good for what it is, the two main bouts being affected by injuries have damaged this card massively.

Thankfully we do get some of the planned bouts, with one of those being the next defense for unified regional Welterweight champion Jin Sasaki (18-1-1, 17), who defends his WBO Asia Pacific and OPBF titles against the rugged Shoki Sakai (29-14-3, 15), in what could end up being a very interesting bout. Sasaki is someone who has a genuine aura about him and oozes star power, with a compelling look, an exciting style, frightening power, and the sort of flaws that make him vulnerable and make his bouts musty watch. Sakai on the other hand is flawed, but tough, rugged, strong and comes forward. Technically he’s very flawed, he’s easy to hit, slow, and lacks power, but his toughness and will to win could drag Sasaki into deep waters, or he could find himself up against someone who simply has too much power.

Potentially the best bout on the card, given the alterations to the card, will not be a title fight, but will see champions facing off, as Japanese Super Featherweight champion Tsubasa Narai (14-2, 10) takes on WBO Asia Pacific champion Kai Watanabe (13-1-1, 7), though the bout will be above the championship limit and neither man will be risking their titles. Both of these men have power, both are skilled and both are looking to launch themselves beyond regional level, and into the mix at world level. Narai has won his last 6, since losing in 2022 to Kosuke Saka. The run hasn't been a who's who, but has included notable wins against domestic fighters like Hiro Ichimichi, Soreiki Taichi, Yuna Hara and Kanta Fukui, good wins, but none that will propel him to mixing on the fringes of world level. Instead he needs to score a few more wins against international level fighters. As for Watanabe the 22 year old is talented, though did frustrate in some recent bouts, including razor thin wins over Shinsei Otani and Shunpei Ohata. Those struggles were however easy to forget when he blasted out Toshihiro Suzuki back in August, in a sensational performance that really boosted his standing. Like Narai he’s a few wins short of being in the world title mix, but a win here really would set him up for a huge year.

In a Japanese title fight, Super Bantamweight champion Toshiki Shimomachi (19-1-3, 12) will defend his title against Misaki Hirano (11-1, 4). There had been some mention of Shimomachi being a potential reserve opponent for Goodman, in the main event, but it never looked on with Shimomachi knowing he isn’t ready for world level. Despite that he’s not far off getting into the regional title mix, and a win over Hirano may well be one of his final at domestic level. He’s a talented fighter, who was given an excellent test last time out, by Ryuya Tsugawa. He's talented, and could mix at world level after Inoue leaves the division, but the 28 year old Southpaw from Osaka is still very much a work in progress. As for Hirano, the challenger is on a 10 fight winning streak, including the 2021 All Japan Rookie of the Year, but his competition hasn't been close to the top of the domestic tree, with his most meaningful win coming in December 2023 against Ryo Suwa. This is a massive step up for him, and it’s hard to see him giving Shimomachi too much of a test, but he will be hungry and will know this is a chance to impress on a major card, shown globally.

We have another title bout on this show, as WBO Asia Pacific Minimumweight champion Goki Kobayashi (8-1, 5) defends against former Japanese champion Yuni Takada (15-8-3, 6). On paper this doesn’t look like a really tough defense for Kobayashi, however paper doesn’t tell us much of the story here. Kobayashi was put on the fast track from the off and the 25 year old is now enjoying his second reign with the WBO Asia Pacific title, which he originally won in his 5th bout, before losing it in his second defense, then regained it a fight later, with this being his second defense of his second reign. He’s talented, has good power, and has had tough seasoning since his debut in 2021. As for Takada, who actually gave up the Japanese title to actively chase this bout, and Kobayashi’s title, he’s only 26 but very much a battled hardened 26 year old, who debuted in 2015 and was stopped twice in his first 4 bouts, and 4 times in his first 14. He's not been stopped since 2019 however, and has gone 7-2-2 since then, whilst winning his last 7 in a row winning the Japanese title along the way, and recorded 4 defense. Given his form, his pursuit of this bout, and his experience Takada, whilst the very clear under-dog, is very much a live under-dog here, in what is a brilliant bout at 105lbs.

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