Pound-for-pound great Naoya Inoue will defend his undisputed world super bantamweight crown against Korean challenger Ye Joon Kim. Inoue vs. Kim will stream live on Friday, Jan. 24th on ESPN+ with a special early morning start time of 4:15 a.m. ET/ 1:15 a.m. PT in the United States. The event takes place at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Timothy Bradley Jr. and Bernardo Osuna will call the action for ESPN+. Before the main event, a twelve-round welterweight co-feature showcases Jin Sasaki (18-1-1, 17 KOs) against Shoki Sakai (29-14-3, 15 KOs).

 

Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) seeks his tenth consecutive knockout while making an unprecedented third defense of his undisputed world 122-pound championship. The 31-year old unified the bantamweight division in 2022 by stopping Paul Butler, then claimed undisputed status in a second weight class with knockout victories over Stephen Fulton and Marlon Tapales in 2023. In May, he made history by headlining the first boxing card at Tokyo Dome since 1990, rising from a first-round knockdown to stop former two-weight world champion Luis Nery in the sixth. Inoue followed up the Nery triumph with a seventh-round TKO of former title holder TJ Doheny in September.

 

Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) turned pro in 2012 and has spent most of his career fighting in Korea. He has won two straight since a majority decision defeat to veteran Rob Diezel in Auburn, Washington.