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Not the most thrilling matchup, considering how dominant Inoue is in this division. But since it's happening, I guess we’ve got no choice but to talk about it. This is yet another title defense for Inoue, with Goodman stepping in as a likely mandatory challenger. Goodman’s unbeaten, but he doesn’t pack much power, only 8 KOs in 19 wins. I haven’t watched his highlights yet, but if he’s anything like other Aussie boxers I’ve seen, he’s probably a slugger. If he's not careful, this fight could end early, with Inoue scoring a KO.

Maybe Inoue’s trying to beat Casimero’s first-round TKO. Let’s see how it goes.  :D

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/10/22/KdiXZ.png
https://www.boxingnews24.com/2024/10/naoya-inoue-vs-sam-goodman-being-finalized-for-december-24th/

This might be one of those two fights that Inoue's camp mentioned he’d need to take before moving up to a higher division. Well, I guess we just gotta watch and hope it's at least entertaining. Can’t deny that a lot of people are frustrated as they’re dying to see him go up against Casimero. But even after Casimero’s recent win, he still didn't get that mandatory challenger spot.

I was about to suggest making a poll for this fight, but then I realized --who's gonna vote for Goodman here, right?  ;D

I admit it wasn't the most exciting pairing. Especially considering Inoue's superiority in the division. But it still made for some exciting moments. Goodman's record shows he's undefeated. This means that he has the courage to take a stand. But if there is not much power in punching He'll have to rely on Inoue's box delivery, which has long been a guarantee for someone as quick and accurate as The Monster.

I expect Goodman to take a cautious approach. Using movement and defense to survive the early matches. But only if he couldn't find a way to hurt Inoue or put him in danger. It might not take Inoue long to figure this out. Inoue's versatility makes him very dangerous. And when he smelled blood, he accepted the knockout. I wouldn't be surprised if Inoue finished him off quickly. But what if Goodman can drag the fight into the latter round? will show his flexibility more Either way It's another opportunity to see what Inoue is capable of on the field. Even if it's only one side.


Haha, yeah, I don’t think Goodman would get too many votes in that poll! It does feel like this fight is more of a formality before Inoue moves on to bigger challenges. I get the frustration too everyone’s eager for that Casimero fight, and it’s hard to see why it’s still not happening, especially with Casimero back in the mix after his win. That being said, Goodman is undefeated, and even he is the underdog here. But sometimes unexpected matches surprise us. Although unlikely But there is always the chance that we see something interesting. Although it's hard to imagine Inoue not having the upper hand. Hopefully it will be a fun battle. Even if the outcome is inevitable.

If Casimero hadn’t missed weight during the weigh-in, we could definitely say he’s back in the mix. But yes, he had some issues--came in overweight, and even though he won the fight, it doesn’t seem to have done much for his ranking. Probably because the organization didn’t see it as a big achievement, especially considering Sanchez wasn’t even a top-5 guy, if I’m not mistaken.

Not in Japan--unless Goodman somehow manages to knock out Inoue, but given his KO rate, that’s pretty unlikely.
And yeah, the betting odds definitely line up with what most of us are thinking about this fight.

https://www.proboxingodds.com/fighters/Sam-Goodman-4177

Last one I believed, Top Rank big boss Bob Arum confirms it. And that's why Murodjon Akhmadaliev is really trying hard to get at fight with Inoue as he was bypass before when he Inoue fought Nery. But as a mandatory, Murodjon Akhmadaliev wanted his chance here. But it's obvious that Inoue is not interested, they might just want to have a easy and less risk fight at the end of the year. Usually those fight date are reserved for their number 1 boxer, so in this case it will be Inoue again to fight at the end of the year. And if he wins then his next fight will be in the US at super featherweight. So it will send a lot of message to those champion at 126 lbs. But it's good to see how far Inoue can go up in weight to proved his greatness as so far he is on the top 5 pound for pound.
 

That's the thing with Inoue - he doesn’t seem to take on the toughest challengers left in the division. Or maybe they're planning to fight him after this one. Akhmadaliev is no joke either; he was an Olympic medalist, so he's already got some solid achievements before going pro. And he did lose to Marlon Tapales, so I feel like Inoue should be able to handle him easily. But I don’t really get why they’re not considering him first before this fight.

I consider Goodman to be a sort of wrap up fight for Inoue, after this he will move up and completed his journey in the Super Bantamweight, his camp and his supporters will say its a great journey for Inoue in this division but for some its not because he has a baggage to carry on his next division and that is he left behind a fighter who many people thinks have a chance of beating him.
The featherweight is a loaded division, and he will be challenged here, and who knows if there are unforeseen circumstances that Inoue and Casimero clash, possibly in the featherweight or in catchweight?
Not really an interesting fight to watch; people will watch just to watch, or they will just check the highlights.

Looks like after this there's a possible fight with his fellow Japanese as reported in .

Fight between superstar Naoya Inoue and maturing Junto Nakatani ‘makes sense’ for 2025 (https://www.boxingscene.com/fight-between-superstar-naoya-inoue-maturing-junto-nakatani-makes-sense-2025--186534)


In the next division, the only fighters I know are Brandon Figueroa and Rey Vargas, both champions in WBC.
https://www.boxingscene.com/rankings

We'll never know if he'll face Casimero but that is unlikely as when he moved, he would directly be a contender since he was a champion in the lower one.

Nothing against Sam Goodman, but I believe this is just a stay-busy fight for Naoya Inoue. Experience-wise, the Japanese Monster clearly has the advantage, as Sam Goodman’s resume and the opponents he has faced are mostly unremarkable. However, I don’t think this will end in the first round. Inoue will likely be more cautious than ever to avoid repeating the mistakes he made against Luis Nery. Betting on the fight lasting under 6.5 rounds might be a good idea.

Although "unremarkable" opponents, at the very least they've got good records. They must be some sort of prospects. So, in fairness to Sam, he's fought 3 undefeated fighters in his last 5 fights. And those fighters have numerous wins already.

If I'm not mistaken, however, this is Goodman's first fight outside his home country. And he'll be facing no less than the monster in front of his own people. This might be intimidating for somebody who's been with the most comfortable crowd all his professional career.

I wish him luck though. I hope he'll give Inoue a hard time.

Right, he just want to be active as we say, before he can go up to featherweight division. And if for those who haven't seen Goodman, he is somewhat slow at this division, he might be tough, but his style is perfect for Inoue to counter and then score another knockout win.

It will be interesting to see what the strategy of Inoue, I'm seeing him attacking the body of Goodman early here and then goes for the head if it is ready to be taken off. I haven't check the odds if this is listed already or not, but yeah, 6.5 under might be a good idea if the odds is going to be that interesting.

Yes, he is ranked number 1 by WBO and and IBF, and you are right, he doesn't have that power and so it will be an easy fight for Inoue as he had a good chin although it has been broken already by Luis Nery. However, I do not think that Goodman power is enough to rock him in this fight. And probably this is the reason why they chooses him instead of Casimero or even Murodjon Akhmadaliev.

As for the 126 lbs, you should also look at Angelo Leo. I think this is really a good fight for Inoue if he really wanted to test the best of featherweight division.

But as others have said, this fight will not last that longer, maybe under 8 rounds if Inoue really wanted to show off in Christmas. And I'll probably stay away from betting here unless there is a better odds for Inoue.

To be fair with Inoue, he had faced a lot of great boxers already and knock them out. It's that if he wants to clean the division for good, last man standing is Akhmadaliev as he is a former champion and was a Olympic medalist that why he is lobbying the camp of Inoue to face him but to no avail. They already had Sam Goodman who is for me a less opponent for Inoue and that's why others are saying that he is taking an easier route. Now, another Japanese name wanted to challenge Inoue and we have been hearing his name and that is Junto. So let's see, as per Bob Arum, after Goodman they are going to fight in the United States in featherweight division. But who knows, if financially if make sense for Inoue vs Nakatani early next year before going to a new weight class, then it could also be set up.

I look at Sam's record, and it is only the TJ Doheny that rings a bell, he defeated TJ by a UD win, while we all know that Inoue did to TJ. So even if he fought 3 undefeated or prospect fighters, still pale in comparison on what Inoue has to go thru his last 3 fights.

And yes, he fought almost in his career in Australia, so he had that home court advantage. But not this time, he will be travelling to Japan to face the Monster. So that is already a big task for him. And if there is a odds in the fight already, for sure he will be a huge underdog here as we haven't seen anyone close in beating Inoue. Except many Luis Nery when he knock down Inoue, but that's it, Inoue come back and won via knockout. And if we look at his KO percentage, it's not that great.

Goodman is a better fighter than Saul Sanchez so I expect him to last more than a round. It is still a mismatch based on talent level and experience.

Goodman has beaten some recognizable names in Doheny, Aleem, and Flores but they were all by decision. He does not appear to have the power that can hold off Inoue’s offense. He is also not the most adept technician so I am expecting Inoue to steamroll past him.

Goodman already turned down the opportunity to fight Inoue in September, despite being the mandatory challenger, so it shows that his promoter might not have enough confidence in him.

Inoue have much better experience and reputation compared to Sam Goodman, so it's hard to say if Sam Goodman can destroy inoue in the match, the fight between the two will be played in tokyo as well as being home from inoue and by playing in front of his own supporters of course inoue has a better motivation to defend the undisputed super bantamweight title later, So far he has shown incredible skills in his career and I think this fight may indeed be more about keeping the rhythm and staying active for Inoue, Betting on a fight that lasts under 6.5 rounds does sound reasonable, given Inoue ability to finish the fight quickly, especially since it has been a goodman boxing style who likes to dance, landing a blow, and trying not to get hit has been very often faced by Inoue in the boxers he has faced previously so far.
https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/10/23/KZkJ2.jpeg

Since he is an undisputed champion, even if the match up is not that equal, people are still going to talk and watch about it.
But its not the kind that will excite the boxing community, Inoue is already a big name in the lighter division but the majority of the boxing community has more eyes on the heavier division and this fight is not something that will excite the whole boxing community.

Inoue is the most dominant boxer in this division, no doubt about it, he’s the king here. But it feels like the king is just fighting his own warrior to pad his record. Honestly, there’s no real competition left for him here. I think Inoue should decide to move up and aim to dominate the featherweight division. Instead, he’s still holding onto his crown and taking on fights that don’t excite the fans. It’s obvious they’re just going to be easy wins for him.

There are boxers that should Inoue fight next that will really excites us, like Casimero, Nakatani and Murodjon Akhmadaliev. But maybe Inoue just wanted to take a light opponent in the Aussie, Sam Goodman.

And it's really hard to look at the lower class though, usually it's the 147 lbs that is the king of weight classes, but now, almost weight classes are full of superstars. Will be very interesting as Inoue will move up to featherweight division and he will be fighting in the US next year. And gonna be the question on how heavy he can go as far as weight class, it could be his last at featherweight? we will see.

But unfortunately Inoue's camp is really disregarding to make this fight to happen and they also closing the doors for possibilities for this match up. So that means the chapter is already closed and nothing will happen to what fans like.

If Casimero will be handled by huge management and go also up then maybe there would be a chance in future their path will cross, then maybe this discussion will  be raised up again. But for now Casimero has no chance to fight Inoue.

Sam Goodman still a good fighter but I think he's heavily underdog in this match.

But Goodman slow fighting style gives him good strength in stronger body resistance to every opponent blow, his body is hard and that why he is an undefeated fighter, it might be very sensational fight because Inoue with his hard punches and Goodman with his body like rock.

Honestly, as time goes by I think it impossible for Inoue to win by KO, maybe he will only win by decision if he continues to put pressure and more punches go into Goodman body or face.

Whatever the story, I think the boxing between Inoue and Goodman is the best bet. Goodman has his own character in the ring with his dancing style and Inoue is also a boxer who has punching power. Both of them are tough boxers in my opinion, This is a golden opportunity for Inoue to defend his bantamweight title, for Goodman there is no doubt that the WBO succeeded in defeating TJ, Flores and Aleem.

Overall and if you look at the boxers for both Inoue vs. Goodman, even though Goodman is superior to Inoue and from the several fights they have had, Inoue should not find it difficult to beat Goodman, However, any fight could happen unexpectedly, but I am more confident in Goodman, who will definitely be December 24th, the day when they will determine their own careers in the ring.

Superior?! how did it happen? I checked Goodman's boxing record, and I don't see any prominent name except Doheny; he has good movement but lacks power for his opponent to have a huge respect, everybody thinks that this is a cherry picked fight, you cannot cherry pick a superior guy I don't know what in area where Godman has advantage over Inoue, can you tell me where?

Its good to read that one of us here thinks that the fight will go the other way; if he beats Inoue, Goodman will be a huge star, and the fight will be the newsmaker of the year, because until now people are speculating how and who can beat Inoue, and many thought it was Casimero.

@YOSHIE here might not be following this division closely since he's saying Goodman is superior, whereas Inoue is actually the undisputed champion, and Goodman is just a mandatory challenger. But maybe he’s got a different basis for his claim, and I'd also like to know more about that.

Maybe he see something from Goodman that's why he say that he is more superior than Inoue. But if we base it on achievements and past fights, we can really say that Inoue is more dominant fighter here.

People could see the odds here https://www.oddschecker.com/boxing/naoya-inoue-v-sam-goodman/winner

I also think that this is another cherry picked fight. Fans want either Nakatani or Casimero but guess the people wants didn't happen and they choose the opponent which they have huge chance to win.

He did-- that's how he became the undisputed champion after beating Marlon Tapales. Even after that, he’s still here taking on opponents who aren’t really worthy. And the one boxer who’s been wanting to fight him, someone we all know would make for a great match, he’s been avoiding for years. Sure, the rankings might not be in Casimero's favor, but he should recognize that Casimero is a former three-division champion and could definitely pose a real challenge to him.

A detailed analysis is good when you think the other way instead what the majority will think the result will be, The only comparison I can see is Doheny, whom Goodman beat via unanimous decision but Inoue stopped via TKO in round 7 if you study the highlights of the two fights.
Its obvious that Doheny cannot keep up with the power and speed of Inoue, while Doheny shows no respect on his power; its just Doheny is slow and has a hard time catching Goodman


Here are the highlights of the two fighters, I'd like to be corrected with my analysis
Tj Doheny vs Sam Goodman FULL FIGHT HIGH (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJvCOfGzAzY)

Naoya Inoue Stays Undisputed vs TJ Doheny | FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZrqfN3bK-g)

of course, Goodman can win by an upset, but he cannot be a superior fighter coming into this fight when your record is subpar against your opponent; you cannot be a superior fighter.

Akhma Murodjon seems superior to Doheny and even to Goodman, but because Goodman ranked high and this is a mandatory defense, Inoue has to fight him. This is a very good year for Inoue. Casimero is very likely to defeat Inoue seeing the man just executed his best shots in Japan recently.

If Inoue climbs to 126 after smashing Goodman, I think he is really ducking the two Casimero and Murodjon. He couldn't move up all the way, or he would be beaten by some unknown fighter, all because his weight doesn't make him perform the way he should.

Of course, Goodman is incomparable to Inoue. That's why this is a lop-sided match. I was just looking at what Goodman has accomplished in his professional career that made Inoue choose him. He's done something, but it isn't much compared to the monster's accomplishments.

Botnake has posted initial odds from proboxing. Inoue's 1.04 and Sam's 15.2 speak volumes as to how analysts and enthusiasts see how the match would end.

Maybe we can speculate it that way, that Inoue has duck Casimero and Murodjon Akhmadaliev. But that's the thing is boxing, there are a lot of great fighters and this boxers can only fight at certain point. And we can say that Goodman is lucky to have a chance to fight Inoue for his last fight at super bantamweight.

Because if they are going to stay true at their plans, next year, Inoue will be fighting in the US for a new weight class. And then we can only think of what if for Inoue for 3 fighters, including fellow Japanese Junto Nakatani. Inoue is 31 years old so he is about to hit his peak and that is good for him to leave and go to the US and really test against the best of 126 lbs. Brandon Figueroa, Rey Vargas and Angelo Leo will be a mega fight for us boxing fans.

Well, he's fighting Inoue that's why he's the heavy underdog in this match.
I guess this is a good wrap-up fight for Inoue before the end of the year and possibly moving up and fight better fighters next year.

Both are undefeated, but knowing that he's fighting Inoue, I guess we know who will win on this fight already. It's like a mandatory fight so I guess he has no choice. On the other hand, it's already good that he's moving up instead of just staying on the same division knowing that there isn't any fighter that can outmatch him or at least be on par with him. Well, like I always say, one punch can change everything and we saw an unexpected during his previous fights where he got knocked down in the first round, and although he won at that fight, it just shows that anything can happen. Who knows? We might see one of the greatest upsets in boxing history? :D But what are the chances? :D

That's the thing with Casimero though, he could have a great chance before but he blew it already. And moving forward, it was just a one shot deal for him to have a chance against Inoue but unfortunately, he squandered his chance by going over the weight limit or trying to removed that excess weight in which the British commission caught him in sauna. And it sounds familiar again as last week he was also the weight limit against Sanchez but the good thing is that he was allowed to continue because it's not a championship fight. As for Akhmadaliev, maybe the reason is that he lost to Marlon Tapales in which Inoue break down and knockout as well. So now, they think that they've beat everyone as this weight class and are going against his mandatory in Sam Goodman before the end of the year or most likely his last fight at 122 lbs.

If he has trained his body then maybe he is going to be a tough cookie to break. But we all know that Inoue is also a body snatcher, although in his last couple of fights, he is head hunting as he wanted to knock people out. But he still takes on the body, so soften them up before attacking the head. Simply but very effective for him. And if you will notice, him and his brother Takuma loves to take that body away.


Maybe when he moves up to 126 lbs, wherein boxer are typically bigger and natural at that weight, it might be very hard to Inoue to knock them out and we still don't know if he can carry his power in that weight class. But here against Sam Goodman, he could still pack the power that we have seen him all throughout his campaign in this division and the consensus is that he will win by knockout again.

Probably like a 1 in 100 chance we see an upset here. Inoue is just built different. He got knocked down once but got back up and destroyed his opponent. Honestly, I think Nery was better than Goodman in experience, so I’m not really hyped for this fight. I think the betting will mostly be about which round Goodman gets knocked out --'cause the winner feels like a done deal already.

That’s kinda underestimating Inoue's challenger and overhyping Inoue. He was -6500 against Doheny, which means like a 98.5% chance to win. So yeah, you might be right about that one. But this time, he's up against a better opponent with a solid ranking, so maybe it's more like 90% -- still pretty high. ;D

That's what rumors are saying. It's been said that if he is to fight Tank Davis, he has to be matched up with someone popular in the US since he isn't known in the country. But climbing up to heavier weight class will just be a disadvantage to him, he may not even need to fight someone like Davis and yet he'll be crawling on the mat. He got knocked down by Luis Nery which is a manifestation of adding weight.

Well Sam Goodman fight is all in Australia and we all know that he is Australian, so he fight with confidence in his home country just like Inoue. So he is very much home grown fighter and usually if they step out in their comfort zone, they are pretty much destroyed.

And so I guess that Nery could be a tough customer than Sam Goodman, Nery has fought a lot as well if my memory serves me right so he has a lot of experience. But that was not enough for the Inoue fight as he had his time to score a upset by knocking Inoue down, but Inoue come back strong and go for a knockout win. That's how tough Inoue is, but not sure if he can also conquer the next weight class with ease.

As for me, I believe Luis Nery is a better boxer than Sam Goodman, as Goodman has not fought outside his home country, Australia. While an upset is possible, I think it’s a very slim chance given Naoya Inoue’s talent and the fact that he is still in his prime.

Every boxer in Inoue’s current division has a slim chance of winning, and Goodman is no exception. There won’t be any upset here unless Goodman turns out to be the kind of fighter who can knock someone out with one punch, but judging by his record, he doesn’t have that.

I don’t think this fight will attract much international interest either. Even with a lot of Japanese fans, I’m sure they’re getting tired of watching Inoue fight opponents who aren’t on his level.

Quality of opponents, yes, Luis Nery could have a better resume than Sam Goodman. I even saw a video of Bob Arum though, highlighting Inoue and saying that he wanted to face tough opponents.

However, in this case, it's a move backward, there could be fighters like Casimero or Murodjon Akhmadaliev.

The fight with Sam Goodman though is already scheduled and so I doubt that Murodjon Akhmadaliev will have a case here as there are reports that he wanted to go legal so that he can fight Inoue.

Goodman fought 4 times in 2023 against high quality opponents. He might not come anywhere close to having enough skills to beat Inoue but he has earned the right to challenge him for his belts by becoming the mandatory. Akhmadaliev would also be a great opponent but he has lost momentum since the loss to Tapales. He beat some unkown guy and somehow became a mandatory also but he has been inactive for the past 10 months. Like Casimero, he is just sitting on the sidelines waiting to get picked while his career stagnates.

Arum has already hinted that Akhmadaliev might be next for Inoue in April 2025. That would leave Casimero on the outside once again. There are still plenty of good fighters in the division that he could beat and it will elevate his status, but without the backing of a major promoter, I feel like his opportunities are very limited at the moment.

So, Inoue isn’t really planning to move up? That makes this division pretty boring. We want to see him face some quality opponents, and we can’t pretend that the current division, where Inoue is the undisputed champion, has fighters who can truly challenge him. Most likely, these matchups will just pad Inoue's record.

If Casimero isn’t given a chance to fight him, it might be best for him to leave the division. He could potentially dominate in a new weight class, while Casimero could make a name for himself in this current division. At his age, he should be fast-tracking his career if he truly wants to be a Hall of Famer. Bob Arum really believes in him and even said he’s better than Pacquiao, which is a huge statement that needs to be proven. He should start making that happen.

Team Inoue plans to have at least two fights before eventually moving up to the featherweight division. However, I was surprised to hear Akhmadaliev’s name mentioned as a future opponent for Inoue, considering he was previously ruled out for not having anything that warrants Inoue’s attention. It seems Top Rank’s plans may have changed, as they are now considering an all-Japanese mega-fight with Inoue facing Junto Nakatani. I hope this fight materializes, as I believe it would be one of the best matchups in the 122-lbs division before Inoue moves up.

That's a better matchup compared to Akhmadaliev since this boxer has already lost to Tapales. A Japanese vs. Japanese fight sounds great, especially since Nakatani is also undefeated and has impressive power in both hands. Who wouldn’t remember him?  He knocked out a Filipino boxer Vincent Astrolabio in just the first round! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBro6Ru_NpE)

Yes, and that's why it's hard to take Bob Arum's word though, he said that Inoue will likely to move up in weight next year after a Goodman fight. But who knows, as we have discussed, names like Casimero, Nakatani and Akhmadaliev are still a good fight for Inoue next year.

And if Inoue is going to be true to his words that he only fight the best, then he should face two out of this three fighters in the future. It will still be very lucrative for him specially if the fight is going to be held in his native country Japan. So money wise there will be no issues for him and maybe we can see him postponing his move up to the next weight class for now.

And there seems to be a rivalry between the two Japanese that's why this could be the best fight for Inoue if he wanted to still stay at the super bantamweight to face Junto Nakatani. Yes, I have seen how he destroyed a good fighter in Astrolabio is just one round during their fight and then he started calling Inoue for a fight as he is willing to move up in the 122 lbs just to face the Monster. So let's see how this could go. Maybe Arum or his Japanese manager might re-consider Nakatani after Sam Goodman because of their rivalry in the local Japanese boxing fans. There are a lot of Japanese boxers and very talented and champion and so it makes sense as well that they are willing to face each other to see who is the current number 1 Japanese boxer.

Any updates on this fight? Feels like it’s flying under the radar since fans aren’t really talking about it. If it were Casimero vs. Inoue, though, you can bet we’d be talking about it nonstop. Real fans would be all over any updates, whether it’s legit news or just rumors making the rounds.

The fight will start on Tuesday, Dec 24, Based on the news, I don't see any updates yet, and it seems this is the first defeat for Goodman.
Based on the insights and bets, more people are choosing Inoue and only 5% for Goodman. Well, I am betting on Inoue because he is more aggressive than Goodman and has more experience.

Regarding Casimero vs Inoue, I have been looking for their fight for weeks. Is it true that Inoue was defeated by Casimero in their first fight, or is this just a joke?
I can't seem to find any videos on YouTube about their fight.

They have not fought before. They were supposed to but it was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic and it was not rescheduled. Casimero is suspended from fighting in Japan, where his promoter is from and where Inoue fights most of the time. Their careers have gone in different directions and it is not likely they will fight anytime soon.

The last time I heard it was still a go, so we can only speculate that they have been training very hard already as it's just 4 weeks from now. Usually Inoue's fight is low key as the fight is being held in Japan and news could be just inside that country, just like in his last fight wherein it was just a week before the fight that we have heard news about it. And the only thing that could have been news worthy is that if Inoue gets injured (again), but so far no news yet.

@BitMaxz - Inoue and Casimero hasn't fought before and I doubt that it will happen in the future as Inoue is reported to move up in another weight class after this and fight in the US next year as per his US manager, Bob Arum.

I believe, there's little noise on this match because there's no controversial news out of this match. As of now, it is looking that Goodman is a heavy underdog with early odds of 12x, whereas, Inoue's odds only at about 1.05-1.18x. So we can expect not many people will bet on this line, but maybe on what round this fight will end up with. Some sites are predicting to finish this at round 6-8, having Inoue knocking out Goodman. But should not really be very confident as Goodman has also good record.

On the note of Casimero being in the picture, I can understand a lot of people here are fans of Casimero. But the status of Inoue right now is quite far already for Casimero to have a match up with him.

There is a controversial in this match, Akhmadaliev is trying to block this fight as he contest that he should be given the chance to fight for belt here. He should be the number 1 or the mandatory as per WBA.

He contest that he was bypassed before, when WBA allowed Inoue to fight Nery. But now, he should be given that status as mandatory now. But Inoue chooses Sam Goodman.

https://img.youtube.com/vi/6A9TYP2toUw/0.jpg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A9TYP2toUw)

If I remember correctly there's someone share a short video before on facebook with the fight between Inoue and Casimero.
A short video shows Casimero defeating Inoue via TKO in the first round, and it appears to be a real fight. So I think it was a fake or edited video created via AI because I can not find any video on YouTube. I thought they deleted that videos on YouTube but it's not actually exist.

Yes, this fight is not much talked about, even some people are more focused on other boxers and in fighting Goodman it doesn't really give big hype, but actually this is interesting because Goodman himself is one of the boxers with an undefeated record in 19 fights.
I think maybe the reason is because he is still in the super bantamweight class and that has been mastered by Inoue, if the fight in higher division might attract more attention from the fans, we want more dramatic fight.

Most likely it's AI mate, lots of those kind of videos are appearing, and most likely I believed this could be the hype on Casimero vs Sanchez or the video itself is that fight as Casimero won via technical knockout on the first round.

As for the odds, Sam Goodman, just like the other opponents of Inoue is a huge underdog here, as per the latest odds he is 9:1 underdog.

So it's really hard to go against Inoue here, it's just a matter of time what rounds he is going to score a knockout victory here.

That's the sad part they can make a fake video using AI I am drinking with friends and told them about Inoue got technical knockout by Casimero I thought its true.
After searching for the full fight for many weeks no video or proof exist online.

Well, the odds for Inoue are pretty low, not good to bet compared to Sam Goodman.
It is much better to bet on which rounds Goodman will be knocked out.

That was a joke as the two have never meet in the ring yet and as of the moment Casimero has nothing to offer to Inoue so that the latter would have the interest in facing him.

But i do hope that Casimero vs Inoue may happen in the near future so that everybody will be silenced if ever Inoue beat Casimero badly lol.

           - What Inoue needs to do is to fight outside Japan.
this is a big disadvantage to any of his opponent, specially to the Japan rule which protect this boxer.
second, Fight Casimiro! His legacy in boxing will never that good if he will continue to be a coward hiding on his country and not getting Casimiro on his gloves.

not interested in Inoue's fight again unless this will be happening outside His territory like what most Boxers does and still doing .

Thank you for being real, but honestly, that won’t happen unless Inoue moves up to a new division. I get the frustration, man, I’d also love to see him push himself and take on new challenges against other champions. Staying this long in a division where he’s already unified all the belts feels pointless at this stage. It’s like, what’s left to prove? Time to aim higher and keep satisfying the fans.

Or maybe he do tend to stay for a while despite of unifying all the belts for this division and trying to prepare himself on moving up another weight division. If he do able to taste up some first knock down of his career on this division then he might be thinking that moving up another level might be that be even more dangerous if he would really be planning out on having that unbeaten record.
We dont know on whats the thing that come up into his mind on which it will really be just that too impossible that he wont be able to scale himself basing up on his performance in against
with his recent opponents on this division on which we do able to say that this is really that indeed not an easy walk for him.

You're right, we wanted for Inoue to go outside of his comfort zone and fight in the USA. But it seems that he really doesn't want to because of the money that he can generated in his country. He can fill in stadium with 50,000 fans watching him fight. But then again, when you are in the pound for pound list, you should have at least where the Mecca of Boxing is, and that is United States.

Although the good news is that after this fight, he might go to the US as per Bob Arum because they said that Inoue will be jumping up in weight class. And most of the champions at 126 lbs are US base so it's only right that he will go and fight in the US moving forward.

I really hope that news has some substance because, honestly, I’ve been hearing rumors too, that Inoue isn’t done yet and plans to keep defending his title after this fight. The longer he stays in this division, the more his popularity risks taking a hit. It’s like he’s holding back the hype by not challenging himself against boxers who have a shot at beating him, real champions. Dominant wins are great, but if there’s no real competition, it starts to lose its spark.

Yeah, it’s all just speculation for now as there’s no official word from Bob Arum about Inoue moving up. But honestly, even if they make an announcement, they can always backtrack if they feel Inoue isn’t ready yet or just want to play it safe. This fight isn’t exactly what fans were hoping for, especially with so many better opponents available. But it’s the choice they made, so we’re stuck watching it.

Honestly, I doubt anyone here is rooting for Goodman to win. The betting odds say it all: the chances of an upset are ridiculously slim. It feels more like a formality than an actual challenge for Inoue.

Nothing new for Inoue, he is fighting a nobody again. Even though the guy is undefeated, but It's just the way the boxing goes these days. They create an undefeated boxer so it can look like a good match against the superstars.
I was once impressed by Inoue, especially when he destroyed Donaire, but after that he was already fighting a bunch of nobodies. I lost interest with his match already.

The only one fight that i do enjoy on watching is going against with Donaire, you could be able to see Inoue have those blood into his face and nose on which you could be able to tell that he had been punished on that fight despite on winning up the fight via TKO but you could really be able to see that he do have that a hard time. If Donaire was able to have that more durability or stamina and wasnt able to get that liver blow
then he might be able to win up against Inoue. Yes, i do agree into your sentiment that this one really do looks like that he's that been that paired up or arranged with with fight with nobody or not really that known boxers on which trying out to pile up his win counts but with those fighters on which we dont even know on where they do came from or simply not popular then you will really be just that thinking that this is really that
an another boring fight or you had already assumed that this would be an easy win for him.

We would be all that delighted if we will be able to see to fight some popular boxer with have some solid stats on which this will really be able to test him up totally and not really just that trying to make up some fight
into those who arent that known or popular.

And there are still rumors that he might still have one fight left at this division, so after Goodman, he could be facing another great contender, but let's see. I do hold Bob Arum's statement though, as he knows how to promote and make Inoue great in the US, just like how he brought Manny Pacquaio and then make him a household name by careful matchmaking although Manny has already had that talent already. But as boxing fans, we want Inoue to go stateside and faces a lot of great champions at 126 lbs and see if he can bring his power to that division and be as destructive as he is in the bantam/super-bantamweight.

I'd like to correct you that it was not Bob Arum who brought Paquiao in the US and arranged his fight against Ledwaba; it was Murad Muhammad who arranged the fight when Enrique Sandchez, the supposed opponent of Ledwaba, got injured. Pacquiao was a replacement for that title fight. He was about to go home in the Philippines when he got a phone call that he would fight for the title; he won the title with only 7 days of training.
Arum only came later after Pacquiao was already a household name.

I still like for Inoue to really go up in weight after this. No need to stay at the division wherein he all knockout the champion and have all the belts. There is no challenge in him right now at 122 lbs.

And we are all anticipating that he will going to knock out Sam Goodman anyways, and so majority of us are not really excited, or at least knows what the outcome of this fight and that it could really end bad for Sam Goodman.

That’s probably the best outcome we can hope for in this fight, because if there’s no knockout, it’s likely going to be a boring fight. It’s pretty clear this is a mismatch... Inoue is just on another level, as we’ve seen from his past fights. So, the real question isn’t whether Inoue will win but which round will Goodman get knocked out?

Current line is over and under 7.5 rounds, @2.00/1.72.

So odd makers see this fight as going under, as we all know that Inoue usually takes some time to read his opponents movement in the first 5 rounds and then might go with the knockout on the next, like his next two fights.

Speaking of Akhmadaliev,  another of supposedly a opponent of Inoue, he will have fight Ricardo Espinoza on Dec 15.

Yeah, but technically it was not Murad who make Pacquiao a household name. And so that is what I'm saying here, the Bob Arum has the formula and blue print already and probably this is only the reason why he did want to bring Inoue in the USA. Already Inoue's name is already big, but the center of boxing is in the US and for sure Inoue an even surpassed Manny as the biggest in Asia if he will just go and fight outside of Japan.

With this fight, I'm thinking that I might go under 7.5 rounds here.

Sam doesn't have the power and then Inoue is going to be too fast for him. Not sure what other boxing fans are thinking here, others might agree or disagree with me regarding which rounds will Inoue stop Goodman.

The US hasn’t been the center of boxing since HBO and Showtime got out of the business. Due to investments from DAZN, the Saudi government, and some other players, the sport has become more international. Out of the top 10 in ESPN’s pound for pound list, only 5 of them fought at least once in the US in 2024. Compared to a decade ago, it was very rare to see a fighter based outside of the US in the top 10.

I think it's because of the emergence of combat sports like UFC that really lead to the downfall of boxing in the US. But still for me I consider it as the center, which many great American boxers right now. But I will do agree that there are a lot of players like the Saudi with their big money, that really pushes some to be out, and then it's the British invasion with the likes of Matchroom's Eddie Hearn. And then there where times wherein the promoters wanted in-house money, just like what Top Rank did and GBP promotions. It is that they just cooperated later when Eddie Hearn and to some extend Frank Warren make their presence felt in the last 10 years in the US soil. Plus the PPV numbers are very expensive and then we have illegal streamers that really killed HBO and Sho as they can't make money out of the boxing fans in the US.

I'll be going with the over 7.5 rounds in this fight, go against the bookies. Though i see this fight ending in a knockout win by Inoue but i think it will take some time before Inoue would catch Sam Goodman.


It good to see that Akhmadaliev have finally move on. He should stop calling out Inoue and fight another name to be active and not wait on Inoue's camp to pick him as future opponent.

This is one reason why non western countries became so proud of this recorded data. That proves that everybody could thrive harder even though they're at different races. Not just with Saudi, but for all countries who participated sports particular to boxing career. Don't under estimate Inoue, we don't know what in the future he can give for his future fights.

If Goodman's camp will use their cards I think they will try not to engage too much knowing how powerful Inoue avoiding that solid combination will extend him fighting, though we really can't tell what Goodman's strategy for this fight but same with your prediction it can
extend to that round and maybe more than 8 rounds before Inoue will push his way trying to put Goodman down.


Yeah, instead of insisting just keep onfghting and let his records attracts Inoue and his camp, adding value to your name might attract them to pick him as their next deal to sign.

Yeah, it's because he is supposedly to fight Murodjon Akhmadaliev, to clean up the division for good. But Sam Goodman got the fight and so it's like Murodjon Akhmadaliev is clamouring for a fight, or least Inoue give him the credit as he is a former champion.

However, he has nothing to offer to Inoue at this point and so just like you, this should be Inoue's last fight in the division. And we really wanted him to fight in the US and not just box in Japan and moving him for him, there will be a lot of competitions because he might be small at 126 lbs, or we will not known if he is really that good if he don't want to go to US and move up in the next weight class.

Yes, the odds for over is attractive already, however, we might go and bet early and this line could go lower as the fight night approaches.

Also good for  Akhmadaliev to really not to talk about Inoue for now, seen interviews of him though claiming that he can beat Inoue, but that is not going to happen. He had a fight as I have said so he should focus on Espinoza.

If he is lucky enough to get a crack once he win against Espinoza then good, but it should be impressive enough so that Inoue might reconsider his case.

What do you mean? Inoue has etched his name in boxing already, cemented his legacy when he unified the super bantamweight. He is the second boxer to unified two divisions, so races has nothing to do with boxing. If you talk about the Saudis, well they are now the powerful broker in boxing and obviously, they have deep pockets that's why they can put up great fights in the Middle East.

As for this fight, the over and under could be the safest bet, Inoue by KO is a bad choice in terms of the odds. So I will agree that the over 7.5 like what @bisdak40 said. At least there are values, doubling your money.

Inoue's management team should realize that the US market is the place to establish his legacy. If he allows Arum to run the full course of his career, I'm sure he can give him legacy fights. There are great names in the featherweight and the lightweight division; he should move forward just like Pacquiao did. He is being compared to Pacquiao when, in fact, the only future Hall of Famer that he fought and beat is an aging Donaire.
Japan has been great for Inoue's career, but he needs to move forward, and the US is the best place to be.

Exactly, but I think Inoue knows that, and so Bob Arum will have to push him to fight at 126 lbs in the US to cement more of his legacy. Yeah, he had been undisputed, but later on there will be discussions how he could be great if he fights in the US just like Manny did during his prime.

He had beaten a lot of great fighters, but it seems that once he beat them, they are no longer the same. Just like Fulton or Nery for that matter. If Fulton and Nery could make a career then maybe we can judge them later as how Inoue beat them in their prime years via knockout.

Can't agree with you more on this. Money-wise, there's no need to fight outside of Japan as the he earned is more or less the same but with regards to popularity, fighting in Las Vegas could make Inoue a more popular boxer. It's just unfortunate for Inoue in this 122-lb division that there is not much resistance for him, i mean there are no popular names that he could beat unlike Manny Pacquaio where he beat the likes of Barrera, Morales, Hatton, Marquez, etc. I think it is time for Bob Arum to take charge and not give Inoue an opponent who is only popular in Japan.

It’s already December.. it’s about time to keep this thread active with some updates. Do we have any news for this month?

Come on, this fight needs to generate some hype, especially since Inoue is still the most exciting boxer in the lower divisions. Although this looks like a mismatch, let’s at least discuss what Goodman might bring to upset Inoue. As far as I know, Inoue will be moving up after this fight, so it’s our last chance to see him dominate in the super bantamweight division.

No update but this is already a go if I'm not mistaken, and they could be really in the middle of their training and maybe next week they are going to take it slow already as to not over train.

I haven't check their social media though, maybe Inoue might have posted some of his sparring session as he is known to do that, besides the scheduled public display of their trainings. I do not see anything special that Sam Goodman can bring in this fight. Inoue has seen the best at the bantamweight and super bantamweight, and with that we all know that it's just a matter of time on which round he is going to put Goodman in the canvass.

This match has less impact because we all know that Goodman is a complete mismatch against the monster considering his poor performance on his past matches. Another Ausie being forced to fight on Japan with prime boxer like Naoya will surely result to be a one-sided match.

Besides, both fighter is not noisy in social media while the majority of fans is rooting on single boxer here.

We can consider this as +1 to Naoya records. Ikm not expecting upset on this match.

Does anyone know if the odds for this fight have been released on other bookies? right now I can only find odds for this fight on sportsbet.io and it is Naoya Inoue:1.02 - Sam Goodman:8.20.

I am not entirely sure how the system on mandatory fight works but no offence to that guy, but what does he expect? his last fight was in Dec 2023 and then his next after will be on Dec 12 this year, the dude has a 1-year gap between his fights.

^^ Goodman is 9:1 underdog

As per Stake:

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/12/07/pjCbf.png

It was not about how long his lay-off is, he is talking about him being the mandatory and so the governing bodies should order Inoue to face him. But it seems that is not the case as this fight is not going to be postponed by Inoue.

Maybe if Inoue will stay one more fight here, he could give Akhmadaliev a chance. But there are also reports saying that this could be Inoue's last fight and so with that, he will be moving at 130 lbs next year and fight in the US.

We do all understand on what Akhmadaliev feels specially if he's been that skipped out even if its pretty obvious or according into the rules about mandatory then it should really be him fighting against Inoue but this one turned out that he had been skipped out. I dont know if he's that been skipped out before on which had been mentioned above with that Nery fight on which we dont really actually know on what are those arrangements been made in between.
If this one turned out to fight with another fighter then there's nothing he can do even if he would really be making up some arguements. If they wont really be giving you out the chance to fight against Inoue but rather they did arranged up on Goodman instead, maybe he might be next in the line but just like on what you had said that this might be the last fight before he moves up. Where did you get such information?
I havent been able to read up that he would consider on moving up on this weight division.

Hehehehe this man is clearly fighting for his slot to be the next challenger for Inoue because it is very much known that this will be Inoue's last fight in this weight division of super bantamweight. There was an interview by Ariel Helwani on master Turki of Saudi Arabia where Turki mentioned that he is in negotiations with Inoue's management team to promote a fight in Saudi with Inoue to fight against someone from the featherweight division. I wish this will be Brandon Figueroa hehehe.

That’s not really surprising, but it’s a shame that Inoue, being such a popular boxer, is fighting someone who is a complete mismatch. And Bob Arum has the audacity to claim that Inoue could be better than Pacquiao? I’ve never seen Pacquiao fight someone who was such a mismatch based on the odds.

Our people's champ was never afraid to take risks, even if it meant going up against the toughest opponents, and that’s why he truly deserves to be in the Hall of Fame because he’s truly a legend.

As far as I know, the governing body allowed Inoue to fight Nery that time and they gave that free pass. Maybe Akhmadaliev thought that after that, he will be given the chance. Unfortunately he did, and I'm thinking that Inoue's camp didn't fight him because he has nothing to offer. And Inoue already beat the man who beat Akhmadaliev so  that might be their thinking as well.

For Inoue moving up, that news was broken by Bob Arum himself in several interviews,


https://www.boxingscene.com/bob-arum-on-naoya-inoue-christmas-eve-card-us-return-junto-nakatani-showdown-awaits--185732

I see, so I read more into it(I didn't really watch the video which is my fault), and it looks like Akhmadaliev has been picked as the mandatory match but Inoue's team looked for another boxer to fight. but if Inoue is not gonna fight the chosen boxer for the mandatory fight shouldn't he vacate the belt? I mean, their team is basically ignoring the rules of the mandatory fight.

regarding him staying for one more fight, yeah maybe, but shouldn't their team fulfil the mandatory fight first instead of looking for another boxer that wasn't picked for the mandatory fight?

Sam Goodman is also a mandatory challenger. This is the problem with having too many sanctioning organizations. Having a single mandatory challenger when there is an undisputed champion would be the logical thing to do, but that would dilute their fees, so they each have their own eliminators and determine a different mandatory.

The whole process is kind of a sham anyways because they will give preferential treatment to fighters of certain promotions. For example, Edgar Berlanga did nothing to deserve a mandatory position but he was a marketable fighter signed with Matchroom and that’s how he ended up being Canelo’s challenger.

There are plenty of mandatory challengers, but since Inoue’s camp has the final say on whom he’ll fight, they’ll choose whoever benefits him the most. Honestly, I think Inoue would easily beat any of the mandatory challengers, so the outcome would likely be the same.

The real issue is that Inoue doesn’t have any significant challenges left in this division. It’s clear - he just needs to move up to find tougher competition.

In a recent post by Top Rank, Inoue confirms that he is going to win and that he will fight in the US in 2025.

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/12/11/pi5f2.png

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDYJIlBhGRh/?img_index=1

Perhaps he is not underestimating Sam Goodman as a boxer. But we all know that there is no blue print yet on how to beat the Monster. Although he was knock down in his last fight against Nery, but majority thinks that Sam has nothing new to offer to Inoue in this fight.

Well I agree with you lets take a look the data first - https://box.live/fights/inoue-vs-goodman/

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/12/11/piWQ8.md.png (https://www.talkimg.com/image/piWQ8)

From here alone we can take a look that Inoue has really huge advante he has lot of fight and experience before and not only that he also fight in Japan that basically playing in his cage  ;D so its like the winrate for Inoue is big in my opinion.

and According to https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/events/118575-inoue-vs-goodman#sectionPicks

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/12/11/pief3.png (https://www.talkimg.com/image/pief3)

2% only for Goodman ... look like that survey is fase, .. .just kidding...

Well, honestly, this fight is a mismatch and shouldn’t have been scheduled. It’s just a waste of time for Inoue, and fans won’t be thrilled to watch since the outcome is already predictable.

I’ve seen Casimero’s name mentioned, and I think Inoue should have chosen to fight him before moving up. That would have been an exciting matchup, even if Casimero isn’t a mandatory contender.

But Casimero will gain nothing from fighting Casimero now, at least with Goodman, he was the mandatory. Casimero hasn't shown us anything at 122 lbs except in his last fight. But it might be too late as Inoue has been talking about moving up in weight in his latest video being shared.

Yes, this could be a mismatch, same as he last couple of fights, but then again, it's up to his opponents to show him something, and so he just toyed with them early and try to get as much rounds as he can before destroying them with a big knockout. Just like Nery, he did score a knockdown, but then Inoue takes him seriously after that and then that devastating hook take care of Nery for good.

I see, so Sam Goodman is chosen as the Mandatory fight for Inoue from a Different Sanctioning organization and Akhmadaliev is also the chosen mandatory fight for Inoue from another Sanctioning organization.

I read that each organization has an "eliminator fight" to pick who will be the mandatory challenger for the champion. so did Edgar Berlanga not go through this process?

You mean  "Inoue"? ( must be typo error)...Same as the previous fight, Inoue is only gaining money but not much of a recognition anymore since he already won the undisputed champ last year I think.. so there's actually no reason to stay, and if he wants to make more money, then he should fight Casimero, maybe try to visit the Philippines, and not just fight in Japan... I'm sure if that fight will happen, that would be the biggest fight of his career, next to his fight with Donaire.

https://talkimg.com/images/2024/12/12/pKqNN.png

Odds update:

Still, it's ugly odds. It's giving the power of an undefeated Japanese boxer. Even though Sam Goodman is also an undefeated boxer, the odds says it all.

This is also what I am waiting, see Inoue fight outside Japan :D Overall, Inoue is a great boxer, he will just prove the beef going on about the venue of every boxing he wins.

It is difficult to explain because of the WBA’s nonsense, but Berlanga did fight an eliminator, although he was only ranked #8, so even they didn’t think he was one of the most deserving fighters. To make matters worse, David Morrell was the ‘regular' world champion and should have been Canelo’s mandatory. Canelo wasn’t interested in fighting him, so the WBA offered Morrell the ‘regular' world title at 175. Because of all the corruption, it is a very confusing mess.

He has already proven he can fight and win outside his country. However, once he moves up in weight, he’ll be the challenger, and if he wants to become an undisputed champion, he’ll have no choice but to stay in the U.S., which I believe he can handle. Going back to this fight, with Inoue’s odds at 1.05, it’s a high-risk bet, but I’d also call it free money as there’s no way Goodman can upset Inoue.

this sounds like they are setting a cherry picked fight for Canelo to make it easier(no offense to Berlanga) for him to keep his title and make his record look better.

I miss the boxing where the boxers are looking for a challenge where they risk their title and record to prove something. today it is a bit rare to see fight like that because it seems like a lot of boxer are looking for a fight to make their record look nice.

Definitely, he can handle going into the US, he had done it before, although I think he might not be that comfortable because in his native Japan, he is considered to be their top boxer and so it comes with a lot of perks. And he can fill the stadium whenever he fights in his country.

Nevertheless, going into the US, he will be exposed to US boxing fans and for sure he will be like their because fans wanted to see a boxer that can finished their opponents and knocking them down in fashion, just like what Manny did when he was in his prime.

Thanks for pointing that out, yeah, it was just a honest mistake on my end. Or if he wants to make more money, then go out of Japan and fight in the US. And that was their plan in 2025, so for sure everyone is very happy to see Inoue doing that in his career.

And I guess it's all about the timing, 126 lbs division is also loaded, so him fighting those boxers who is American or Mexican, it's going to be huge in the States as we will see another Asian boxer trying to conquer the US.

Forget about Casimero, him and others should just wait for Inoue to move up in weight and then they can go fight for the vacant belts.

And it is also the influence of Canelo, that he can even fight who he chooses to. There was a convention before and I think that it was a WBC and Canelo expresses that he wants to go to CW and fight the champion, and the Sulaiman says yes.

Unfortunately, it didn't happen as Bivol spoils everything for him. And after that lost, we have seen the Canelo has been cherry picking his opponents.

Anyhow, it's good to hear from Inoue itself that he will fight in the US in 2025 and we will hold him accountable if that didn't happen.

That’s going to be tough for Casimero if he follows that path. I think it’s better for him to stay in the same division. Soon Inoue will move up, the belts will be vacant, giving Casimero a good chance to become a champion again. And what if (just a wild thought), Inoue fails at featherweight and decides to come back, only to find that Casimero has already become the undisputed champ? Maybe then Casimero could play the same game Inoue is playing now and refuse to give him a shot. How was that sound?

You have a wild imagination, but I’d love to see that scenario become reality. Casimero’s years are already numbered, so it would be great to see him retire as a champ. However, until Inoue vacates those belts, it won’t happen. So we’re pushing him to move on so Casimero can take over, sounds like a great hidden agenda for the biased fans,  ;D

Yes, and that is the plan of the other champions too, like Nery. I forget the website that I've read, but that was their plans and I wouldn't be surprised that if Inoue moves up, we will see the names of Nery fighting for the vacated belt.

Or maybe Goodman as well, will stay at 122 lbs and also in the mixed for those belts. So they are going to get a lot of benefits, including Casimero once Inoue fight at 126 lbs next year. And so it's a blessing in disguise for him, even if he didn't get the chance to crack Inoue, he will have the chance to get another belt before he retires as we all know that Casimero is not getting any younger.

This senario doesn't seem far-fetched, Casimero do not have that much of time left to retire, but it will be nice to see Casimero have a triumphant exit of his career, keeping stand on same division will give him that high chance to retire with a champ belt .Also on the other hand, Inoue grip on those belts is on the higher side considering Casimero limited time and surprises are part of the game and we may be getting one from Inoue.

Right, at this point, we should not be expecting Inoue vs Casimero. And if I'm Casimero, I will just move on and not chase the Japanese as they have a different path, as he will move to 126 lbs and then fight in the US.

While Casimero will campaign at 122 lbs and he will have a chance to at least fight for the vacant belt. He is rank already at his division if I'm not mistaken. And before we forget, he used to be WBO champion and with that, I have a feeling that he will be prioritized by this governing body and he might be fight for title eliminator or even for the belt itself once Inoue leave the division for good.

I have been following the career of Casimero for a while, and I believe he has been chasing Inoue for a while, and now that they’re in the same division, the fight still hasn’t happened. I get what Casimero wants, he’s aiming to become a champion, and to do that, he needs to beat a champion. But Inoue hasn’t given him the chance, even though it’s possible for their camps to arrange the fight.

That's what some other boxing analyst says.
But they are also saying Casimiro is risky and they are not going to risk Inoue for Casimero to rise because Casimero is only known in the Philipines Islands whereas Inoue is gaining popularity in the US. They do have plans for Inoue to one day fight his biggest payday in US.

Why is this Inoue vs Goodman not yet in many crypto casinos? Obviously, Inoue is going to be the favorite, I'm curious how much to profit for Inoue by KO.

They supposed to fight in the before the pandemic if I'm not mistaken, or even in the pandemic itself. But Casimero didn't make the weight against Butler and then Butler beat another Filipino and so he did face Inoue after that.

So it's Casimero's fault though here, he had his chance he blew it off and now that Inoue is way bigger, he will not get the fight that he was hoping for. And with the news that Inoue is going stateside after this and moving to a new division, that chances is now zero.

I don't know. It should be in there already or maybe we'll see it once we're 2-3 days near to the match.
Most of the matches that I am seeing in the bookies right now are the matches for December 15 and 16. This is from stake.
And maybe the same goes with the other bookies that lists boxing. Let's wait a few more days to see they list this match.

His real journey to becoming a future Hall of Famer will begin if he starts fighting in the US against the best of the best. Right now, he can’t be compared to Manny, because Manny was a risk-taker who wasn’t afraid to push his limits. That’s why he became the only 8-division champion in history.

As for Inoue, I’m not sure, maybe the next division he moves up to will be his last, as he doesn’t seem to take risks the way Manny did.

That's why very hard to compare what Manny did in his prime, yes he lost some fights along the way, but the road he takes is very different from Inoue.  Manny fought the best of his generation in the States and moves up in the division and still carry his power and speed. Although he didn't knockout his opponents as he used to be in the lower division, but that speed kills.

Although I will disagree about Inoue's last stop at Featherweight. Maybe he will go up one more at 130 lbs if he still has it. So let's see how it goes for him when he go to the States and show his talent to the American boxer. And maybe in a year or two, he will be campaigning at Junior Lightweight.

He pushed his limits, and that’s how he reached that level and earned so much money. His biggest payday was his fight against Mayweather, which turned out to be a one-sided fight. But despite that, people still love him because he’s better than the self-proclaimed "best fighter in the world," who, in reality, is a boring fighter.

That’s just my safest assumption as I believe he doesn’t want to take bigger risks by moving to a division where he might not succeed.
But Bob is wrong if he thinks Inoue is probably better than Pacman.

https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/naoya-inoue-probably-better-than-pacquiao-says-arum/267271

Casimero isn’t just popular in the Philippines, but he’s also well-known internationally as a fearless warrior who’s willing to fight anywhere and beat most of his opponents. Remember Tete? He was considered one of the most popular fighters in the bantamweight division, but Casimero defeated him in his own country.

That just shows how dangerous Casimero really is. So, with that in mind, do you think Inoue is afraid to fight him?

Fights that aren't popular are not listed early, that's the obvious reason.

Bad news for boxing fans, this fight is officially off as Sam Goodman suffers a cut over his left eye in his last days of sparring.

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/12/14/pxPfH.png

https://x.com/ben_damon/status/1867727243289800816

So definitely this fight is not going to happen on the scheduled date. So not sure how Inoue will take this one as he said that next year he will be fighting in the US and going up in the next division.

Either they will have to find a replacement for Sam Goodman, or Inoue totally not fighting in December 24.

Sam Goodman has suffered a cut in training, and the fight with Inoue is off for now. The event page on BoxRec says that the fight is now scheduled for January 24, 2025. The injury does not look too bad from the picture that was posted on social media, but it is uncertain if Goodman can recover in such a short amount of time. It might be time for Inoue to move on to another deserving opponent, but with how strict the IBF is about enforcing mandatories, he will just have to wait on Goodman, even though this was not the most intriguing fight.

If they go as plan, then there will be no Sam Goodman. Inoue will go to Featherweight next year. Or since they have save that date in Japan, maybe find another fighter for Inoue that is ready in just 10 days but it's going to be impossible. From the images posted, it seems that the cut is really deep and for sure by now it has been close and stitch already by some doctors in Australia, but there's not enough time for that kind of cut to be healed. I know, it's f**k Inoue's schedule but I guess this is this kind of freak accident that happens in boxing and that no one wanted this to happen but Inoue will have to go and move on next year in the US.

Yes, some gambling sites put that date too on this fight. Maybe that's what the push date will be temporarily agreed by both parties that's why it was updated like that. I read that there is a Japanese in the undercard and it's possible that he will be the replacement, but there's no official word yet. But what are chances that it will be Nakatani?

As for Sam, I do not think that Inoue will wait for him. He had his chance, unfortunately, he had this accident and so Inoue will move on without him. Inoue will not waste his time as he had better plans in 2025.

Inoue isn’t in a rush to move up, so I think waiting another month won’t be an issue. We’re in the holiday season, so the postponement might even give him a chance to enjoy the festivities. Regardless, the outcome isn’t likely to change. Inoue will still dominate this fight and likely score a KO.

Awwww.
We saw some replacement on the very last minute of matches and maybe that might happen for Goodman on this match.
But I don't think that the Inoue side will agree onto that term when they have prepared for nothing but Goodman only.
It's going to be out of the strategy that they have planned for if the opponent will be replaced by another fighter. There's not that much enough time for them to prepare so, the schedule might just be moved then by a month or two.

This is quite unfortunate, we all look forward to this fight and in the days that are near Goodman suffered an injury that had to be canceled and reportedly there is new schedule for their meeting, but who knows if there will be an agreement to have new schedule or Inoue will fight another boxer who will replace Goodman.
If Inoue gets replacement challenger then it is clear that it may not be fighter who will be able to have balanced fight, in this division Inoue is still the best and there are not many fighters who can match him.

Sometimes replacement boxer are the most dangerous opponent, as obviously, Inoue trains to have Sam Goodman as his opponent, so they tailor made his style against him. It reminds of Pacquiao vs Errol Spence, wherein Errol was replaced by Ugas in the last minute and so Manny's lost that fight. No excuses though, but he was not ready for the style that Ugas, and most likely that's one factor that lead to him taking a big upset lost that time.

Let's see if they can find a replacement fighter. If I'm not mistaken, in UFC there is this thing like a back up fighter so in case that someone might got hurt or not able to fight, they can easily bring that fighter as a late replacement.

Even the name of Akhmadaliev, who solidifies his position with a 3rd round knockout of Ricardo Espinoza in the third round.

But Inoue's response is very clear,

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/12/15/DagsG.png

https://x.com/naoyainoue_410/status/1868148123572568528

So I guess Inoue another option is to wait and fight Sam Goodman on January 24th next year.

I don't think it will be fully healed before the scheduled date, which is January 25. You have to be 100% healthy with no prior injury if you're going to meet Inoue. Inoue loves to target weak spots, and that cut will be targeted to open up.
Goodman should ask for an extension or just ask Inoue's camp to look for a replacement; I don't think there will be a taker; no boxer with short preparation can withstand Inoue's attack; if there is, he is just there for the money.

They’ve set the date, which means they’re confident they’ll be 100% ready by then. If Goodman ends up asking for a replacement, I’m sure plenty of boxers would jump at the opportunity to fight, even with short preparation. After all, it’s a title shot, and everyone below Inoue is eager for that one big chance to become a champion. Not to mention, the purse for such a fight in Japan would be significant, making it an even more attractive opportunity.

Well, that fight of Pacquiao did really made him lose that match with the final minute replacement but yeah, no excuses and he accepted the defeat.

So with that tweet of Inoue, it seems that he'll wait until next month which is what I am expecting from him. He's got the condition to accept or decline any offer from the other camp or might just wait for the better.

The purse split alone will be a very good motivation for them to fight Inoue. Even if we say, they are underdog on this match. Still, it will be a good opportunity for them to face him as there is not much pressure as people are confident that Inoue will emerge as victorious on this match. Would be very interesting if they can go the distance and have a toe-to-toe fight with Inoue. Usually, those who will fight the superstar is also testing the waters. If he has the power to stop him or not. So for the challenger, this is a very good avenue to know the skills and strengths of the top contender and see where he can take advantage the next time around, that is, if he has plans for a re-match in the future or at least know where he stand on this kind of fighter the likes of Inoue.

For sure Goodman will not ask for a replacement, he had his injuries and that is a freak accident. And Inoue has total control of this fight, as he can look for a replacement or not go with the schedule fight as his opponent is injured.

Yes, there could be boxers that will take this in short notice, and take that opportunity. But still up to Inoue to decide. If he insists to go on January 24 or wait for Sam Goodman, then that is good.

But if he does, then I think Inoue should fight a better opponent, and that would be Akhmadaliev. He recently won his fight against Ricardo Espinoza Franco, and this fighter has been vocal about wanting to face Inoue. IIRC, Akhmadaliev was skipped because Inoue chose to fight TJ Doheny, an older boxer whose ranking wasn’t even higher than Akhmadaliev’s, and we all witnessed it was an easy one for Inoue.

We've seen Inoue's answer on MJ, and it looks like Inoue is not interested on him. Inoue mentions that he was beaten by Tapales already in which Inoue beat by a knockout. And as what we have seen, crypto base casinos have change the date to January 24 so it seems that this fight is still going to happen but with a new date in the horizon.

Yes, Akhmadaliev won against Espinoza, but Inoue is still not that impressed the way we see it.

Inoue is the A-side and most likely that's what they have agreed for now, just move the fight to a new date and not get a replacement.

I saw that tweet, but honestly, Inoue shouldn’t have responded that way. He should respect a boxer who wants to challenge him. Besides, what’s the point of staying in a division where he’s already become undisputed, only to refuse challenges?

Why not fight Casimero instead? Sure, his ranking might not be great, but he’s a fighter who hasn’t been beaten by anyone in the current division. It would definitely be an exciting matchup.

Casimero is 2nd in this ranking (https://boxrec.com/en/ratings?r%5Brole%5D=box-pro&r%5Bsex%5D=M&r%5Bstatus%5D=a&r%5Bdivision%5D=Super+Bantamweight&r%5Bcountry%5D=&r_go=)


But seriously, is Goodman even an A side fighter too?

Casimero might decline the offer as a substitute for Sam Goodman as the time to prepare is not enough, two weeks notice is just too short for Casimero since we all know that he struggle to make the 122 weight limit of this division. They might postpone this fight to early next year, maybe Jan as what some users here speculate.

This would very much be Casimero's most biggest mistake! He does not have big opportunities with his small Japanese promoter. Casimero can negotiate a larger offer than his last fight to have this event move forward or no one will have revenues if this is cancelled. Also, Casimero will be one of the biggest names that will very much be cheered by the Japanese fans for his bravery. However, this should be on catchweight without risk of Inuoe's championships. This will be a good fight for Casimero if this is on catchweight. We might witness something similar to Inoue vs. Donaire 1 hehehehehe.

I agree, not enough time for preparation, Casimero won in his last fight and for sure once he gets back to the province, he will celebrate the winnings with them. And as Christmas is approaching, he might be approaching like 135 lbs or even higher today.

So it's a lose-lose situation for Casimero and he might turn it down.

Let them fight next year if Inoue is still interested, but just like what he says against Akhmadaliev, he is not running, but doesn't make sense to fight him right now as he was once beaten by Tapales. In  case of Casimero, he has nothing to offer in the table for Inoue, on the contrary, Casimero will have his biggest pay check and most likely Inoue doesn't want to give it to him.

It's official that the fight is going to be moved on January 24, 2025,

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/12/17/DQgUP.png

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDqJpKyuqmb/?img_index=1

So crypto based gambling sites got it right as they have change the schedule to January 24 already. So Sam Goodman will take a rest and have that healed, and maybe Inoue taking a break so that not to overtrained.

I guess the OP can edit the date.

I disagreed that to the argument that he should not accept the offer. He should accept the offer because there will be no more offers like this that will appear on his table! However, he should negotiate for the fight to be on catchweight. The fans will still certainly watch this with cheers because this is their Japanese hero Inoue very much similar to the fans of Pacman. Also, there might be more demand for this fight because Casimero certainly has more fans than Sam Goodman.

Also surprising why some people mention Casimero because Goodman injury is not serious injury and it is only skin tear, various media reports state that the fight will be held on January 24 and of course now we get the answer that there is no replacement because the fight was only postponed for about 1 month.
Initially, I also questioned whether there was replacement or just postponed and made new schedule, after all it is not easy to be able to fight Inoue and anyone would definitely refuse when given replacement offer with very limited time like that.

I guess it's a good move from Inoue himself to wait for Sam Goodman and not rush to fight any contender as this fight. Yes, it's a bit frustrating not to fight in front of your hometown as it's supposed to be a a Japanese tradition.

But he is putting everything at risk if he fought a nobody in December 24, and what are the chances that we might see a upset? We've seen one recently when Jaime Munguia was knockout by a unknown boxer. It's just one month away from the original schedule, so it will not affect his training and it could be a blessing for him as he can celebrate the holiday with his family.

I’m okay with him fighting a “nobody,” as long as that “nobody” is Casimero. If he’s going to fight someone who isn’t well-ranked, why not choose Casimero instead? That way, once he beats him, Casimero will stop challenging and disrespecting him. I think Japanese fans would love to see that, and we might even hear some boos for Casimero. When it comes to an exciting fight, Casimero will certainly deliver.

I agree that Casimero might be a good choice for Inoue to seek as a replacement fighter. But it seem that they don't want to take that risk or offer that opportunity to Casimero because on how the trolls the Japanese in the media.

So he would rather wait for Goodman next month and not to talk about entertaining any fighter as a replacement, Japanese or any nationality. Others might say that he is playing safe. But it could be that this is the wise decision for him. Although fighting next year might delay his plans for a US invasion by a month or two.

As per giving Casimero his chance  I guess he already missed that one, the time he was stripped that's the opportunities to figth the Monster, but now, I guess Inoue and his camp will not give him that chance knowing that Casimero have that fighting skills that might risk his entire career, though everything still depends on how the money will work for both sides, we know if the price is right, there's always a an opportunity to see things to happen.

Yes and it's just very unfortunate that Casimero has chance to fight Inoue before, but he didn't have the discipline or at least he thinks that he can manage his weight. But that is the past already, and so that chances are no longer present for him.

And as per report, the fight is going to continue and they have adjusted it to January 24. Just a full month from the original date and so it is still very much doable. Goodman is lucky though, so hopefully he will make it in January and he should at least spar with head gear to prevent this accident.

But the question is, can he make the weight? For sure you know that Casimero has history of not making weight just like in his last fight. So he is in off season and probably waking around 140 lbs, do you think that he can make 122 lbs without killing himself for that weight? Of course we want him to fight Casimero, but circumstances are not ripe for both of them.

Will Inoue willing to fight at a catch weight just to fight Casimero?

In any case, it's now confirmed that Sam Goodman will still be his opponent, they will just move on a later date to accommodate Sam's injury to heal.

@btc_angela. It will certainly be difficult for Casimero to make the weight. This is also why I have also said that if Inoue's team really wanted to save this event on this date, Casimero should agree and negotiate the fight to be on catchweight.

Also, you argue that circumstances are not ripe? There will be no big opportunities that will arrive on Casimero's career heheheh. He cannot certainly wait for a ripe circumstance. If Inoue offers him a fight on a short notice, Casimero should certainly accept this.

It's because he simply doesn't want to?

Casimero has been chasing him for a long time, but I guess there are factors that really are on the way to be this fight happening. We've seen that they could have a chance, but it was due to Casimero, not meeting the weight.

I guess he still needs to proved something at 122 lbs to be even offered to fight Inoue. Casimero is still outside of the top 5 in all four governing bodies. So it's going to be very hard for him to leapfrog or overtake those boxer that are above him in rankings.

Sometimes that one opportunity that you missed might haunt you throughout your career. And probably this want happens to Casimero here, he is so proud and brandish before. Unfortunately for him, he didn't take care of his weight even in his last fight, he is overweight and it really hurt his career.

Now, it's all but a dream for him to face the monster, because as much as we reason out that Inoue should give him a chance, he won't as he thinks that Casimero doesn't deserved it. And for sure Sam Goodman would do his best not to get injured again, otherwise he might not be given another chance.

That was his one big mistake, and it’s the reason for his struggles now. Although he still talks as confidently as before, the quality of his fights just isn’t the same anymore.

After the Tete fight, things really went downhill for him. That major mistake led him to his current division, where unfortunately, his ranking isn’t great.

Casimero was supposed to force Inoue to fight him by proving his worth in terms of ranking and standing. But now, Inoue has valid excuses for not fighting Casimero. I’m not sure, maybe one last push in a higher division could be the chance for them to finally meet.

If he had become the number one contender, he might have been able to force Inoue to fight him. However, that didn’t happen.. not his fault, but his promoter’s. They failed to secure him big fights that could have fast-tracked his climb to the top rankings. Now, the idea of these two fighting will likely remain a fantasy, because on paper, it’s just not realistic.

I’d somewhat agree with that. Although Casimero hasn’t lost since being stripped of his belt in the bantamweight division, most of his opponents haven’t been well-known. That’s likely why his rankings haven’t climbed. Maybe if he had stayed with Pacman Promotions, he could’ve gotten a good break, and who knows, he might already be a champion in his current division. But I still hope that "fantasy fight" becomes a reality in the near future, or at least before he retires.

I think it has something to do with his first performance as well when he goes up to 122 lbs. It's very controversial result and so with that, Casimero didn't get what he is looking for. And his second fight, he failed to impressed again that's why the talks of him and Inoue or at least Naoya's camp are not interested on him.

But if he could fight like the top 5, before I wanted to him to fight Nery, or Akhmadaliev, but they can't secure that fight. I do agree though that if he didn't left MP, Sean Gibbons with his influence, could have pair him with top opponents and maybe they can finally secure a Inoue fight. But it's history already, sometimes when you go against your promoter, your career might not move just like what we see here.

That’s definitely the issue, he was with the wrong promoter. If I’m not mistaken, his promoter is Japanese, which explains why most of his opponents are Japanese. Fighting in Japan means his opponents get most of the crowd’s support, and you can’t ignore the rumors that refs and judges might favor the hometown fighters.

If he had secured big fights, even if not against Inoue, then he could have built enough momentum to force Inoue into giving him a chance. But since that didn’t happen, he’s stuck in a lower ranking while Inoue remains at the top.  :'(

Yes, he is being promoted by a Japanese, perhaps that's what Inoue think though, if he will get a Japanese promoter, he might have a chance to get a crack at Inoue. But even his Japanese promoter was also dismayed when Casimero can't make the weight in his last fight although he won by a knockout.


Still depends on Casimero to show us something, I can't remember as well if his Japanese promoter has re-sign him to a new contract or not because of his weight issues as it very unprofessional.

It would definitely be good if he would not be re-signed, as that could open doors to another promoter, hopefully one who can secure him the big fights he deserves. His career hasn’t been heading in the right direction lately, even though his skills are still at a championship level, and he’s been dominating his recent opponents.

That said, with a year-long ban, we won’t be seeing him in action for a while. Hopefully, during this downtime, he stays active in training so that when he comes back, he’s still in peak shape. Another option to consider could be exhibition matches. It would keep him sharp, and even bring in some earnings while he waits out the ban.

But he has history of not making weight in the past and so this could be a negative impression on his image. And reports say that his Japanese manager, was mad and disappointed on John Riel that time, although he won by a knockout. But still, arriving at 127 lbs in Japan, but he was not able to shed that extra 5 lbs of him.

And I can't find news that Masayuki Ito will re-signed him under Treasury Boxing Promotions. So if that is the case then most likely Casimero will have to look for a new one, although as I have said, he might have difficulty in finding because of his records.

Latest image of Naoya Inoue,

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2025/01/01/OXurz.png

https://x.com/ringmagazine/status/1874055910466920574

He is already looks sharp as ever and probably still training very hard in the gym even this New Year. And it takes a lot of discipline to be still in shape and not taking any stones unturn in his preparation against Goodman on the January 24th.

I do hope that Sam Goodman will not have another freak accident so that we can finally see this fight and then Inoue going into the US after this one.

^^ Inoue is fighting like 3 times a year, so obviously he will be like in the best shape everything and still discipline himself after a fight. And he is not that damage in any of his fight, maybe he was knock down by Nery but he was able to recover and win via knockout himself. So in that picture, he is really shape and ready anytime of the day to fight someone. We can't say that about Sam Goodman though, but as you have said, he could really be healing very well that injury and he should be ready by the 24th. Maybe light sparring for him and wearing head gear to prevent that injury from happening again. There are no movement in the odds, Goodman still a huge underdog in this fight.

And it's more likely the discipline of Inoue to really be in shape to the rest of the year and not slacking on diet or even going to the gym. We have greats like Floyd and Manny Pacman Pacquiao having the same attitude when they are still active in boxing. That's why it's really hard to beat those elite boxers during their prime as they know that it's not only important to be in shape when there is a upcoming fight, but being on top all year long.

This fight is just around the corner, and we all know how time flies, right now there's not much of a report regarding this fight. And I can't find any Sam Goodman social media account as well. Was looking if he has some updates with regards to his injuries.

Divisions that aren’t so popular don’t get much attention from fans, and updates can be rare. So maybe let’s just hope the new date doesn’t get postponed again, as it’s reported to be set for January 24, that’s just three weeks away. Speaking of Inoue, we know he is always in top shape, even if we don’t see much of his training. His performance in the ring speaks for itself.

Remember when he came back from being down in his past fight? That alone showed how well-conditioned he always is.

That was against Luis Nery, and honestly, I think Nery is a better fighter than Goodman. So, I really doubt we’ll ever see Inoue hitting the canvas again in this matchup. No disrespect to Goodman, he is good base on his record but he doesn’t seem like the kind of boxer who can end Inoue’s winning streak. though I do want to watch this fight, but Im not so excited about it as I feel like it’s going to be another one-sided showcase for Inoue.

Yeah, I agree that we won't be able to see Inoue kissing the canvas again because he will be more cautious as to not repeat the same mistake he made against Luis Nery. He will potshot Sam Goodman until he will be ripe for the picking, i think this will be Inoue's strategy on this coming fight.

If that’s going to be his style, we probably won’t see an early knockout because Inoue won’t be reckless in trying to finish his opponent quickly. I think Inoue was lucky that Nery doesn’t have a high KO rate, if he were up against a boxer with serious knockout power, things could’ve been dangerous for him, even if he managed to get up and continue the fight.

He usually doesn't take that route of early knockout, he study his opponent first unless Sam Goodman wants to trade early and that will be a wrong strategy. Just ask Nonito Donaire in the rematch, he thought that he can go toe to toe against Inoue. But Naoya is more willing to do that and so he oblige and gave Donaire the worst beating of his life. So after that, no opponents did try to go, they are all cautious in the beginning.

Against, Nery and his knock down, it was more of Inoue toying and provoking Nery early. But he learn his lessons not to do that and so after that he takes him seriously and then when he saw the opening, he go for a knockout, it was short and crisp right now, very fast as well

With his ability and intelligence he certainly won't make mistakes again that could make Sam Goodman dominate him, As you said, Inoue is one of those smart and adaptive boxers, so I think he'll learn from his previous experience when he was knocked down by Luis Nery with a left hook that made him have to kiss the canvas in the first round.

https://talkimg.com/images/2025/01/04/OmJhJ.jpeg

Facing Sam Goodman who is the IBF No. 1 contender is definitely not an easy opponent to face, especially since he looks so savage after recovering from injury, although maybe inoue will be favorites to win the fight, but Sam Goodman who is also a boxer with an impressive record could make inoue fall in the fight later, so I think, inoue needs to play smart and be careful in that the fight.

A good record doesn’t really matter to Inoue because he’s been dominating this division. Of course, Sam Goodman have 19 wins (undefeated), but with only 8 KOs, he’s clearly not a knockout artist. On the other hand, Inoue has an incredible 28 wins, 25 of which are by KO. That’s a huge disparity in both wins and KO rate.

Let’s not forget that Inoue is the undisputed champion. Even though Goodman is the No. 1 contender, it doesn’t change the general belief that this fight is likely to be another easy win for "The Monster" Inoue.

Inoue is older but a more experienced boxer in my opinion. 25 of his 28 fights were knockouts. We know that Sam Goodman won all the fights he played professionally. The best boxers in the world are in their own class. It will be fun to watch this fight. I hope there will be no problems again.

Right, smaller weight class are not that popular so there's not much attention for the casual fans except here in our community wherein there are a lot of knowledgeable fans and follow boxing religiously. Obviously from the Japanese side, there are a lot on Inoue as he is their top boxers right now. And usually in his fights, as we gets closer we might see some promotions from Top Rank.


It was really huge as we haven't seen him getting knockdown, but he has this another ability that is rare for boxers, that is to be able to recover quickly. And he just shake that out and in just next couple of rounds he himself delivered a knockout against Nery.

Yes, I forgot that he fought 3x a year that's why he is still in the best shape here. Although I will also say that he keeps going to the gym to train so that he can maintain that physique of him that makes him of the best fighter in this generation.

And I saw some images of him as well training with the like of Moloney's, Jason and Andrew. Those two are former world champion as well so if he is sparring against them, he could still learn a thing or two from their experiences.

Not only that Inoue is in game shape but he also remains fresh, i mean he wasn't hurt in all of his fights, though he got knockdown by Luis Nery but he wasn't hurt on that one. Inoue is the Canelo version in the smaller weight category, all of those he faced last year were cherry picked i would say as the common denominator of all his opponent is they were popular in Japan.

Inoue was only truly challenged in his first fight with Donaire. After that, everything seemed easy for him, likely because he learned a lot from that experience. Calling him the "Canelo of the lower divisions" might be fair, but I actually think he's better than Canelo because of his higher KO rate. And, Canelo isn't as dominant as Inoue. The main similarity between them might be their calculated approach, they don't take too many risks, unlike other fighters who aggressively chase big challenges and the toughest opponents.

Inoue is much better than Canelo in my opinion, if they are in the same weight class. Canelo has lost to Bivol but so far we haven't seen Inoue getting that L. And Inoue has face a lot of former champions and just blew them off. While Canelo has controversial fights against Lara and Triple-G. So Inoue is very different as he really dominated his weight class and not afraid to face any challenges although one thing that we want Inoue is to go to the US and show his talent in the US fans. But he will be doing that this 2025, it might be delayed because of the Sam Goodman injury. Nevertheless, we don't see anything that can derail that goal of Inoue of going up in weight in his next fight and then Bob Arum bringing him in the US against top opponents at 126 lbs.

I think Inoue should challenge himself to move up a division and truly test his greatness, maybe after this.
He’s incredibly dominant (everyone knows), but what I don’t like is that he’s staying in a division where there’s no real competition for him. It’s been a year since he beat Tapales and became undisputed, so I don’t get why he’s still fighting in the same division, especially when his wins have been so easy.

What’s he trying to do - play it safe?

He still has some challenges, as you can see he was almost upset by Nery in their fight. So he still has something to proved in this division before going up to 126 lbs. So it's not like he is playing safe, there are mandatory fighters that he has to face because he is undisputed.

So IBF and WBO has Sam Goodman as their number 1 rank fighter. So Inoue will have to fight him otherwise he will be strip of the belt. And even after he beat Sam Goodman, there could still be someone who says that he should stick in this division and fight Murodjon Akhmadaliev or Casimero.

Consider that as a fight that will be finish early if Sam Goodman is not a type of boxer who focus on surviving than winning.


I think Akhmadaliev would be a mismatch for Inoue as tapales had already beaten him, its still the power of Inoue would beat Akhmadaliev even if this guy is a olympic medalist IIRC. About Casimero, we have been waiting for Inoue to fight him but it seems he is docking him using the excuse of not worthy opponent.

Maybe Junto Nakatani (https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/718508) if Inoue could wait for him until he moves up.

If we talk about Inoue cleaning up the division then yeah, Akhmadaliev is the only one that he needs to face and claim that he beat everyone at 122 lbs. But as you have said though, he already beaten Tapales soundly, the boxer that Akhmadaliev lost his belt, so it doesn't make sense for Inoue to face Akhmadaliev in my opinion.

I do not see a Nakatani vs Inoue fight if Inoue will be true to his words that after this fight he will move up 126 lbs. And usually, if by any circumstances it will happen, I do think that it could be at the end of the year as it was a tradition for Japan to have a great fight during that time.

^^ It is Nakatani that is chasing Inoue though, so everything is on his shoulder. If he wants to fight Inoue then he should go up in weight class. But it seems that he is not willing for now as he enjoy being the champion of the WBC. And he also have his hands full if he wants to clean up that division as Juan Estrada.

Although from my research, he will be facing Cuellar on February to defend his belt as Cuellar is rank number 6 in the WBC.

And then there is Jason Moloney and also the brother of Naoya, Takuma Inoue, so still pretty much stack up division. Maybe Nakatani is chasing Inoue because of the money or to set the record as who is the best Japanese fighter right now.

They’re both Japanese, so it’s not ideal for them to challenge each other when they can reign in different weight classes. Maybe if there’s no other option, it could happen, but Nakatani still has plenty of challengers in his division. And honestly, with his power, I’m pretty sure he’ll dominate them too.

No, usually Japanese loves to face each other that's why Nakatani wanted to fight Inoue. Same with AJ vs Fury that we have been talking for years for all British showdown. The only race that I know that doesn't want to fight each other is Filipinos.

But I do agree that there are plenty of challenges of Nakatani at his current weight. And if he really wanted to cement his legacy, then he should also clean that division just like what Inoue did before him. So this fight is getting closer, but still the odds favors Inoue, and as fans we all are excited to see him back again in the ring.

Because Japanese has a lot of great fighters specially in the lower weight class so they are not afraid to face each other. Just like Mexicans too, we have rivalry like Barrera, Morales and Marquez, so it make sense for Inoue to be challenge by his fellow Japanese in Nakatani.

Going back in this fight, I do not think that someone here will think that Goodman might have a chance for a upset here?

He could be good, but he is not good enough to pull a miracle and beat this version of Inoue. We haven't seen anyone as close to beating him, except the Donaire first fight or maybe we consider the Nery fight as he goes down, but then makes a comeback and knockout Nery.

Sam Goodman has injured his eye again and the fight with Inoue is called off for good. I was always skeptical that he would recover in time for the rescheduled date.

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2025/01/10/OoXXI.png

---

A new opponent has been announced for Inoue and it will be an unknown Korean boxer named Ye Joon Kim, who has a record of 21-2-2 (13 KOs). Looking at the names on his record, he should not be much of a challenge. I guess being the WBO Oriental champion is enough to qualify Kim for a title opportunity, but I do not see how the other organizations can accept this as a title defense for Inoue, considering Kim has no real meaningful wins. For an opponent with two weeks notice, this is the kind of fighter I would expect. Hopefully Inoue gets him out of there early and moves on quickly to much better opposition in the coming months.

Just very unfortunate for Sam Goodman to re-injured himself again. To be honest, I thought that it will not heal very quick due to the extend of the cut. It's really deep and it will take months before it finally go back to normal and be 100%.

Not sure who this Ye Joon Kim, yeah, he is relatively unknown, rank outside of the top 10 and he is just rank by WBO only. So perhaps they are in a hurry to find a replacement and it just so happen that Ye is available as a back up fighter.

So bye bye for Sam Goodman as he might not have the opportunity to fight Inoue.

Yeah,  those two fights gave a glimpse on how you might be able to beat Inoue, the thing is, Inoue managed to fight back and in the end wins the game, with the possiblities of Goodman beating Inoue on his current status it's a tough assignment though in this sport upset happens and it's not new to the boxing world that something like may take place, as long Goodman will prepare and brings his best inside the ring there's still possibility we never know till we see them fighting.

Sam Goodman is already out of the picture as news say that he reinjured his eyes so that is not good to hear and hopefully his injury will not be a career ending for him. So the replacement fighter, he is very lucky indeed that he was given a chance to fight the monster.

Not expecting any from him though, not downplaying his talent or what, but Inoue is in his prime and very difficult to beat because he is a complete boxer. And the only way he could be beaten is that if he lost focus and not train hard.

And it's fight week already, and Kim, Ye Joon is a huge 15:1 underdog. And the sports bookies are not thinking that he will last more rounds as it open up at over/under 3.5 rounds in this fight.

It's obvious that Inoue will have a easy time here, and will score another knockout victory. So for some fans this is not as exciting as Inoue vs Goodman. The good news is that after this fight, we will see Inoue going to fight in the United States.  So let's just wait for the outcome here and then there are going to be a big hype if he move up in weight class and then challenge for the belt next.

With that kind of offer from the bookies it's  a risk that a gambler will take if they'll be betting against the public, though we knew that there are gamblers who thinks differently and if luck permits and the fighter manage to hold and exceed from what the bookies offer for the handicap, that's a decent paycheck that they'll going to withdraw what more if upset take place but for sure it's a small portion to none that will take that huge risk against Inoue.

Only die-hard fans of Inoe will be excited to see this fight, but for boxing afficionados and fight fans, this is going to be a one-sided boring fight. There's a big discrepancy on skills, power, and experience; Kim's chances are just zero. There are better opponents than Kim, but they prefer a very easy fight.
I hope we will see more challenging fights for Inoue after this fight; he should move on to a more challenging division. Bob Arum thinks Inoue is better than Pacquiao when in fact he only has one Hall of Famer on his list, and that is Donito Donaire.

So true, maybe we will watch this fight in free streams, but personally, as much as I wanted to bet, maybe I will just pass on the opportunity and just wait for the outcome of the fight. We love underdogs, but in this case, it is going to be very hard to pull a upset against Inoue.

Inoue is great but he will have to challenge himself, face great boxers in his career to be able to be with the same breath as Manny Pacquaio. Yes, he has accomplished a lot becoming undisputed in two weight classes, but he is still very far on what Manny had accomplished.

Pacquiao is the standard; just take a look at their resume and compare; the majority of Pacquiao's fights are legacy fights; he never shy away from competition. There is no fighter in the boxing world who, in Pacquiao's glory days, can say that Pacquiao avoided him, but on Inoue's resume, there are so many cherry-pick fights and one boxer he avoided.
I'm sure in the heavier weight category he will continue to avoid boxers who can possibly beat him.
Its better that Inoue cancel this fight, but on the other hand, if Kim can deliver, he will be a celebrity overnight.
And possibly another Rocky story.

Not just standard, he is the Gold Standard as far as boxing accomplished goes. I know Bob Arum has compared Naoya to Manny, but I think they are still very far if we think of the fights and accomplished goes. I know that we can't compare era, but that's how sports personalities are being judge and compare, to those previous boxers. And I doubt that even Naoya can be in the same league as Manny, as Pacquiao fought many champion and former champions in his era.

He was not shy of competition, he doesn't care about any losses because just like the greats before him, they also have losses in their career but it didn't stop them from becoming legends and cemented their legacies.

Well, this turned out to be a total disaster, I mean this mandatory title defence match is basically guaranteed on Inuoe's side. It would have been nice to see a more capable fighter( ::)), but then again, with such short notice, they probably picked the fighter who was readily available for the fight.

They really don't have a choice, as Goodman has re-injured and there's no way that Inoue will want to pass the date and not fight. And so they've chosen a unknown fighter and yes, probably that belt is enough for the Korean to get to fight the champion in Inoue. But for sure there is a big disparity in talents and the tools and Ye Joon Kim but not even last even half of the 12 rounds here and being knockout early. And if everything goes right, after this easy win, then he will go and challenge the 126 lbs champion and fight them in the US as this was the plan of Bob Arum. Have Inoue be exposed to the American boxing fans so that his fame will grow even more. But let's not talk about him and Pacquiao as they took a different route in becoming a famous boxer from Asia.

What do we expct from this fighter? He who always choose the easy way and nothe right match.
he should be facing Casimero a long time ago but still choosing the othe way. Always picking on the weaker opponent and stay on ther country.
We should see a fight at MGM with this Japan's champ vs the world champ.

I very much agree and the boxing news media and writers should create a storyline that Naoya Inoue is very much afraid to take a risk against better boxers in his weight division. I was not very excited on this Sam Goodman already, This boxer from Korea has very much decreased the expectation and has increased the disappointment. If his next fights on featherweight does not include Brandon Figueroa because he will avoid another risk, I reckon we are witnessing this Inoue is becoming very much similar to the scammer Tank Davis.

In any case, Brandon Figueroa will fight Stephen Fulton on a rematch. I wish this will be a knockout for Brandon Figueroa and Inoue will witness this.

He might be interested to see this fight though, he already knockout Stephen Fulton so it doesn't make sense for him to root for Fulton. Although his chances to become a champion at 126 is higher if Fulton wins and then Inoue going after him in the US for a fight. But that is if Fulton beat this version of Figueroa. Yeah, he beat Brandon before at 122 lbs but it was a very close fight and I think they have robbed Brandon that time.

So a rematch again for Fulton and Figueroa and this time, the WBC will be in the line. So the winner might be interested to fight Inoue or Inoue is the one chasing as he is going up in weight after this fight. In any case, for me it will be better if Brandon is going to win as it will be a big test for Inoue then as he hasn't seen a fighter with the length and the physical advantage over him.

 The main question on this is, Does Inoue wants to fight outside japan?
He is protected by their own rules in boxing on their country. they are treating their champ like a baby.
I do believe until now that this boxer is a fake champion and only choose the fight that he is winning.
If they will tell that Inoue beat Donaire a world champ already, Where? and when? the old Donaire?

He should beat a world champ on ihis prime outside Japan!

I reckon if Naoya Inoue's team and his old man promoter, owner of Top Rank Bob Arum wants to challenge Brandon Figueroa if he is the winner, I reckon they should bring Inoue to Las Vegas to watch this fight and also take pictures with the fans. Inoue can also meet and talk to boxing sponsors and express his wish to fight in Las Vegas.

I predict that this might begin a marketing campaign to bring this Japanese boxer to America and if Brandon Figueroa mentions Naoya's name after the fight inside the ring or in an interview, we can be quite certain that this fight will be negotiated this year.

Yes, if my memory serves me right, he already mentioned that after his fight with the supposedly Sam Goodman, he will be fighting next in the US. Perhaps they have a agreement with Bob Arum that certain amount of fights will be in Japan and then in the US.

So I guess this is the last time or at least after this fight, he will be going stateside moving forward.

---

@bbc.reporter - yes, that's possible, Inoue at the ringside watching the Fulton vs Figueroa rematch and then if Brandon wins, then he will go up with his interpreter and Arum himself and challenge Brandon for his belt. That will be a interesting marketing ploy and for sure fans are going to be captivated with that kind of matchup.

Inoue has fought outside Japan before and won all those fights. You can check his record here: https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/628407. Maybe he just feels more comfortable in the lower divisions, and since it’s not as popular, he sticks to fighting in Japan. But if he moves up, most of the fights will likely be in the US because he’ll become the challenger. And I believe, Bob Arum wouldn’t have signed Inoue just to let all his fights happen in Japan.

Yes, he has fought outside of Japan many times already. And I do agree that he might be comfortable fighting in his native country because obviously he has the advantage of the climate and familiarity.

And he is not only manage by Bob Arum, but Inoue has his Japanese manager as well, that's why the control is not on Bob Arum totally. Maybe Arum wanted him to fight in the US but his Japanese manager doesn't want to.

But now Arum said that Inoue is willing to fight again in the US or any place outside of his country.

only happens if he finally decide to move up.

I do believed that he is willing to move up in weight class, after the Fulton win, I can't remember but I hear interviews during that time that his next target was to go up in 126 lbs. So it's not a question on whether he is interested or not, it's the question on when and who will be his initial test, will it be against a champion at 126 lbs? Or will he take a tune up fight first in the US before going after those big names?

And this can happen this year, seeing him in the US and fighting big names.
He is a huge favorite here and there's no value in betting on him at ML at it is the lowest at 1.01.

Here is the weigh-in video,

https://img.youtube.com/vi/OdBdb6cWdy0/0.jpg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdBdb6cWdy0)

12 rounds – Undisputed junior featherweight championship

Naoya Inoue – 121 3/4 lbs
Ye Joon Kim – 121 3/4lbs

So there's no problem whatsoever in the weigh-in, as both make it below the required weight.

And as we can see, Inoue looks very sharp and focus, and we should be looking for another highlight knockout win again. Looking forward to him winning this fight and fight not going into 4 rounds.

Let see after this once he fight outside his comfort zone, like what you mentioned not worthy for the ML as the odd is really small and not worth risking your money, not unless you've got a huge amount of money that you are willing to risk even how small the odd if you'll be using huge amount that's still something, for sure there are gambler who can take that kind of risk.

Even if I have huge amount of money? I wouldn't bet on a 1.01 or 1.02 odds, although we have seen whales do that, but there was one who bet millions but he lost it. So still not a guarantee, and I wouldn't want to take that risk even if it is Inoue, just saying.

In any case, there could be boxing fans that will not be betting here or not interested as he is a facing a replacement boxer and so there's not much challenge on Inoue here. Of course we wanted him to win and see that he will be true to his words that he will go out of his comfort zone for once and fight in the US when he moves up in weight at 126-lbs as there are a lot of challenges for him at that weight class.

They are studying that situation since I guess they don't want to rush everything.

And base on the articles I've read before that he will stay on his current weight class for 2 years https://www.boxing247.com/boxing-news/naoya-inoue-to-stay-at-122-pounds-for-two-more-years/280567

Maybe he consider to do that after his 2 years dominance and he don't get any excitement on 122 pounds anymore. I also want to see Inoue to go US then see if he could still dominate the same on what he do in Japan.

Did he and his team access his skill and power and find that he is still insufficient to challenge fighters in the Featherweight division? I think that's an honest assessment. its my opinion that the Featherweight is loaded with big names, and he may face adversity in this division.
But two years is quite long, and there's no opposition in his division. The good news is for the boxing community, they can continue to taunt Inoue to fight Casimero; this battle has long been overdue and many things happen in that two years, so I'm hoping that he will finally meet Casimero in the ring.

this is what's boring with today's boxing, a lot of them are becoming too afraid of taking risky fights that could put a loss on their record and a lot of them are relying on their PR team to hype them up to the people. while I understand they want a good and clean record it is just becoming boring.

It's inevitable, as he signed a contract with the powerful broker, HE Turki Alalshikh

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2025/01/23/WVRZg.png

https://x.com/naoyainoue_410/status/1853612826302329336

And with that, he could either be fighting in Saudi or in the US next. For the weight class, he has nothing to proved in the 122 lbs and as based on reports, he will be moving to 126 lbs after this fight. Contract is $19 million from the Saudi.

^ I was not aware that Inoue has signed with the HE Turki as a brand ambassador. So he had like the best of the best right now, Usyk, Crawford, Beterbiev and Bivol and now Inoue. And with that, he might be fighting in Saudi more than the US obviously.

But maybe we might see him at least once for this year to fight in the US soil against a 126 lbs fighter if he decided to really move up in weight class.

And at $19M, that is a huge paycheck already for Inoue and could be the biggest for him.

I am not too invested in the world of sponserships. What would the Inoue fans say?

Is this a good or a bad development? I understand the Saudis have a lot of money but they also use it for vain things, mostly.

Is this really going to help Inoues career? 

We all know Saudi has been hosting big fights lately, so this could be the solution to our frustration with Inoue fighting boxers who aren’t on his level. If he moves up to a higher division, we might finally see some excitement, especially with Inoue as the challenger. Since this news is already making the rounds, it feels like his upcoming fight might be his last in this division. Let’s hope that’s the case, it’s about time we see him take on even bigger challenges.


Definitely, as that would take him out of his comfort zone which he is just fighting in Japan.

You could argue that Figueroa was robbed in the first fight against Fulton, but still he is far less accomplished than Akhmadaliev, Nakatani, or Bam Rodriguez. Nakatani and Rodriguez are both top pound for pound fighters and a fight against either of them would be much bigger than fighting Figueroa. It would be better to prioritize those opponents, but there has not been much urgency for them to move up to Inoue’s weight and so everyone is just wasting time on showcase fights.

He will have no choice though, in my opinion. There are no more fighters that will make his championship belt worth at 122 lbs as he almost clean up that division already. And there are a lot of reports already telling us that Inoue will go to featherweight after this fight.

And yes, he had a signed contract with the Saudi and so the plan is to bring him in Saudi and then also in the USA. And all the champion at 126 lbs are fighting in the US so it make sense for him that if he wanted to move up then he should be facing in the biggest stage and that is in the USA or in Middle East.

It's a good move, everyone is jumping on the bandwagon of the Saudi's as they have a lot of money to offer and they are picking like the best to be their ambassador. And with that getting Inoue, he will be paid as reported to close to $20 million. So that is a huge amount for a boxer already and so he jump and sign the contract right away. As far as his career goes, he could be one of the best in this generation, he has been a two time undisputed champion at 118 lbs and 122 lbs. So just imagine if he can accomplished it again at 126 lbs as it was Bob Arum's plan to move up in weight class. So not just that he will cemented his legacy from joining the Saudi's, he will get a lot of money and will be exposed to boxing fans. So it's a win-win situation for him.

I very much disagree. Boxing is not only about more accomplishments or more higher records. This is also about who is the more popular at the present time. If we compare these names that you have mentioned, what would the fans be very much excited to watch? Inoue vs. Figeuroa or Inoue vs. Akhmadaliev, Nakatani, Bam Rodriguez? The reply for this is clear, I reckon and this is against Brandon the heartbreaker Figueroa in featherweight where Naoya Inoue will have the chance to win another championship in a higher division. Also, this fight can be promoted in Las Vegas. These other fighters that you have mentioned cannot give Inoue a larger purse than a fight against the heartbreaker heheheheee.

Figueroa isn’t even a main event fighter. I don’t understand where this idea that he is somehow a big draw comes from. Inoue vs. Nakatani would probably break all Japanese records for attendance and gate. This is the fight that has the most interest right now, although Tank and Casimero fans have also been very vocal on social media.

I don’t think Figueroa is necessary for Inoue to be popular in Las Vegas. He already proved he can draw a lot of fans when he was supposed to fight Casimero. Had it not been for the pandemic, we would have seen a packed Mandalay Bay.


It is these other fighters who need Inoue to make large purses, not the other way around. He is already guaranteed millions of dollars per fight by his promoters and sponsors which include Riyadh Season.

For choosing those fighters which is clearly way behind than Inoue its like giving an impression that he really pick matches that he knows there's huge chance for him to win. Maybe more better for Inoue to accept the challenge ask by fans since if he could beat first Casimero then Tank provably there would be no further question about his dominance on current era. But I guess they choose easy way out for them so that they can maintain their clean record.

We supposed to be seeing a good match before with Inoue and Casimero but I guess the disease ruin everything and now the chance for this fighters to meet in the ring seems impossible to happen now. So I think Tank has chance to challenge Inoue now and that's really a good match up to watch.

He doesn't want to fight Casimero anymore. (period)

Honestly, it’s not just you who wants that fight but we have to accept the reality that Inoue has all the valid excuses not to face the Filipino boxer. Personally, I’d bet on Casimero to upset Inoue but as much as I want that to happen, Inoue knows this is a risky fight. It could put his future at risk, especially after seeing how Casimero ended Tete’s career. He probably doesn’t want to go down that path.

I do not that think that he is afraid of Casimero though. It was Casimero's fault by the way, if he could have the discipline to make the weight against Butler and then winning it, they could have face each other and we will know the result by this time.

And as expected, Inoue knocks out Ye Joon Kim in the 4th round, easy win for him to retain his belt.

https://x.com/uncrownedcombat/status/1882758009786642639

Inviting Inoue to come after him, he asked of it, Inoue's power in full display with that right straight putting Kim down.

This is the result of the match between Inoue and Kim. Goodman's replacement for the fight: I did not watch the fight, but its good that Top Rank posted the highlights of the fight; its one fight that's forgettable. Kim was no match against the speed and power of Inoue.
Its like I'm watching an amateur against a professional. Inoue should never pick an opponent like Kim in his succeeding fight; it will not add to his reputation fighting a no rank fighter.

Naoya Inoue's Reign Continues Against Ye Joon Kim | FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bijHju8-8E)

Lol, baiting Inoue for a fight and then he goes down. Anyhow, this is really a mismatch and for sure boxing fans knows that this is going to be a knockout win for Inoue and so he delivers again. Yeah, the speed and power disparity are in full display here. I guess he doesn't have a choice though, I mean this date has been scheduled for him and Goodman has pulled out of the fight and so they will have to fight a replacement and Kim was the willing victim.

Anyhow, 10 straight title fights, all of them ending in a KO.

However, we want to see him in the US or Saudi, anything that is out of his comfort zone.

Well, he asked for it, and in the end, he couldn't take Inoue's head and body shots. I don't know, but it's a bit funny that Kim is taunting him to punch him, but we all hear those sounds coming from punches and we know how powerful those are.

Well, it's an easy win for him yet again. He might've successfully defended his belt, but it's up against not that strong fighter, or should I say, not the best of the best at his division. I wonder if there's anybody that can match him on that division or is he willing to go in different division to try and face way stronger opponents because it seems like nobody can beat him at Bantamweight.

However, against Naoya Inoue and on his roadmap to get another championship from a higher weight division, this will certainly make Brandon the heartbreaker Figueroa the most preferable opponent for a main event heheheh. However, we will wait for Figueroa vs. Fulton next week. If this is a knockout victory or a very dominating performance, I will certainly be very much certain that Figueroa the heartbreaker will be the best choice if Inoue decided to move to featherweight hehehehehee.

Also Japanese records is nothing in boxing. The boxing mecca of the world is in Las Vegas but also recently, Saudi Arabia is beginning to be another destination for famous professional boxers because of the investment of the Arab master Turki. A boxer with the talent of Naoya Inoue will not be happy to break records only in Japan hehehe.

Usually though, when fighters to that kind of gestures, like asking for more, more than likely that they are really hurt. But they don't want to show it, so instead the "macho" mentality on all men, surface, saying is that the best you got, come here for more. And so Inoue is more likely to give it to him and you can hear how powerful that right hand that send him in the canvass. Worth noting though that when he get's up, he is feeling the pain in his body, so it could be the delayed effect on him.

No one can beat Inoue at this division, he had clean it up and fight the best, although again, Casimero might come into our mind, but that fight is not going to happen anymore. And with that win, Inoue should really move up to the 126 lbs as this is the real test for him. And others have said, it could be him and Brandon Figueroa next as I want to see if Inoue has the skill sets to bet a bigger and taller guy.

Maybe it triggered them to look for bigger promotions when Inoue wasn’t even included in The Ring Magazine’s Fighter of the Year list. If I remember correctly, Inoue has been a pound-for-pound champion, yet he didn’t make the cut. Maybe people started seeing him as playing it safe, often fighting boxers who aren’t top quality. It’s probably why the community showed him a dose of reality, as if to give him a wake-up call.

I'd hate to admit it but that's the reality. The recent fight that Inoue shown, he's truly a monster. That KO punch he made against Kim, who else is going to have the guts to fight him? People and fans are still mocking him for not fighting outside Japan but that's not the thing really here. It's about his prowess and power punch, he's still incomparable if he doesn't move up to another division. Casimero seems to be on the itch for Inoue to accept his challenge but Inoue's record needs to be protected by him and he knows how to play this game and not just inside the ring.

We can't really deny the greatness of Inoue, he had beaten a lot of former champions in the 118 lbs - 122 lbs. Not only him though, even some of the legendary boxers in the past has been criticized one way or another in their career, meaning there are no perfect boxer, even Manny, when he is not afraid of fighting the best and not really care about his 0 or losing was being said to cherry pick.

In case of Casimero, he got his chance, but we all know that he had problems with making the weight so that is the reason why him was not able to get in the ring with Inoue. So now we should move on with that, Inoue is going stateside or Middle East so hopefully HE Turki will bring the best fighters to face Inoue. We have been hearing the name of Brandon Figueroa, but there are a lot of champions too in this division or even strong contender, so Inoue will really have a lot of great fights here specially if he wanted to stay here for a long time.

Yeah, and as expected by most of us here, fight didn't last that long, Kim is the huge underdog and the bookies knows the fight will go over just 3.5 rounds as Inoue score a knockout in the 4th round.

We really have to admire the power of Inoue though, it's really very strong and the accuracy of that right hand. I'm seeing that he didn't put 100% of that behind that shot and yet we can see that Ye wasn't able to recover as he felt the power all over his body.

So let's just wait for the Bob Arum and his Japanese promoter what's next and the roadmap. Report says that he will be fighting in the United States next, out of his comfort zone so let's see if that is true.

That's his style and being a cherry picker as they say is part of his strategy into his greatness but no doubt, he's a great and soon to be a legendary boxer.

I agree, there are too many names for him to have a match and it's up to him who's likely getting his approval. With his status now, he'll surely be chased by a lot of other fighters that like to take his title.

I’m not saying Inoue is afraid, but it’s clear he doesn’t want to fight Casimero. You can’t really blame the situation where Casimero missed the weight requirement against Butler, because even before that, there were plenty of chances for Inoue’s camp to initiate the fight but it never happened. It was even postponed earlier because of the COVID-19 situation, and when things were back to normal, it seems Inoue forget the fight.

Now, you can’t fault the fans for wanting to see Inoue face Casimero. Like it or not, even if the rankings don’t reflect it, among the challengers out there, Casimero is the one who could truly give Inoue a tougher fight. Fans know that, and that’s why the hype around this matchup won’t go away.

That’s exactly why people are upset, this isn’t the fight they wanted to see. It’s an obvious mismatch. If it were Casimero, it would’ve been way more entertaining, even though, to be honest, I think Casimero would still likely lose. At least it would’ve been a fight worth watching.

Honestly, I forgot there was even a fight happening today, probably because of the replacement, and it’s still a Japanese boxer. It feels like they’re just bringing in local fighters to go up against their best, which isn’t exactly impressive for someone ranked in the top pound-for-pound list.

So, what’s next for Inoue? I haven’t caught the interview yet. Is he finally planning to move up, or is it still undecided? Hopefully, we’ll get something more exciting lined up for him soon.

Didn't feel any excitement on his match and its like automatically he won that fight.

If Inoue will continue to avoid those good opponents then provably there might be a doubt on his dominance. Better if he target to get more bigger fights and try to defeats those big names asked by fans.

We don't know what's next on Inoue hopefully we could see more exciting fight and not like this one which fans doesn't like to watch.

Just to correct you though, his challenger is not Japanese but a South Korean fighter. I agree that this fight does not impressed us at all, but then again, Inoue wants to fight for this year and his original opponent has re-injured himself and they find Kim Ye-joon.


That is his plan, to fight in Las Vegas,


https://www.mk.co.kr/en/sports/11227070

Although if you look at it, Picasso is still a super bantamweight fighter. What we wanted to see from Inoue is going into the US and then move up in weight at 126 lbs. So maybe fans are not going to be interested again if ever he pursue this kind of fights. Picasso though is the number 1 fighter in WBC, and rank 8 by the WBO.

Yeah, this is not UFC though, in boxing you can cherry pick your opponents, or at least facing a opponent that is totally mismatch with you. And I think that there are really that time of boxer that was being used just a stepping stone.

And those who are being called tomato can boxers or cab driver boxers in Mexico. No offense to them, but they can still earn a lot of money by facing up and coming champions and their names in the resume and maybe you can be proud of that when someone see your names let's say in Canelo's resume when he was just in the beginning of his career or even Inoue or Manny Pacquiao.

It’s great that he’s fighting outside Japan, but come on, he still hasn’t moved up? It’s about time he steps up and challenges the champion. What’s the point of staying in the super bantamweight division when the results are so predictable? Another easy win is almost guaranteed, but it doesn’t really prove anything anymore. Time to take on a bigger challenge!

Yeah, he didn't mentioned anything about going up in weight class after his win,

https://img.youtube.com/vi/SfD755T_ql8/0.jpg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfD755T_ql8)

But Bob Arum against says that they will be fighting in Las Vegas this spring in the US so I think that's good enough to hear and Inoue confirming it as well. It's perhaps the right opponents that they are going after and we can only hope that he will go to the featherweight division.

That's one way for them to reach the top, to challenge the champions. But it seems that these champs know how to handle it like the monster. They can't just accept anyone who's challenging him because there's for sure some twist and lucky punches that can be thrown still even if he's so disciplined and he can stand with anyone who's on the same division. If he ever moves up to another division, the higher one then let's see if he'll prove his worth but I believe him that he can.

Agreed! Naoya Inoue's exclusion from the Ring Magazine's fighter of the year list was certainly a warning sign for his team that the talent of their fighter does not coordinate with the type of fights that are being promoted for him. This Japanese man should be treated very much similar to Pacman Pacquiao and take more risks.

We can be quite certain that if Naoya Inoue will continue to play it safe, he will be an old man who would have wished he took the risks similar to the risks taken by Pacman. A fighter with this talent of his should not become some similar to the scammer Tank Davis.

He as Ring Magazine's 2023 fighter of the year. This year he didn't win because it was Usyk who won the award. Although I will agree that he really need to take more risks fight and outside of his Japan. So he is not like being snubbed, but Usyk was more deserving because of his back to back wins against Tyson Fury.

The thing though is that he is being handled by Bob Arum so he knows how to make such fighter great. But that is if Inoue is going to fight in the US and then Arum picking up his opponents that is really good in paper but they know that Inoue can easily beat that boxer.

Still up to his manager Bob Arum, and it seems that Arum is hyping Inoue already and even saying that he is even greater that Manny at this point. Which for sure we know that is not true as Manny has been taking and risking his belt on big boxers.

Now it's a very different era, those boxers seems to developed that Floyd Mayweather mentality, that is to protect their 0 because having that 0 taken out, their value will go down. But that didn't happen to Pacquiao and to all other great boxers.

I disagree. Bob Arum knows how to scam the fans into making it appear that the boxer is a very great boxer. However, the opponents of these fighters cannot give a similar level of popularity and greatness as Pacman. There is no risk being taken and if a superfight can be avoided, Bob Arum will certainly avoid any type of superfight.

Bud Crawford left Bob Arum because he was not very happy. This is a boxer who wanted to take the risk against Errol Spence, however, their promoters Bob Arum and Al Haymon were trying to avoid this until it cannot be avoided anymore. Bud and Spence would be 40 years old if this there were more chances to avoid hehehehe.

For me it's promoter vs the boxer, I mean Bob Arum even confirmed that he has lost money in promoting Crawford before, meaning he is not sellable to fans even if he is really that great. On the other hand, Crawford knows his value that's why he wanted to get away from Arum and chase fight that Arum doesn't want to because he needed more time to hype the fight.

And now we have another situation in Teo Lopez, I wouldn't be surprised that after his contract with Top Rank, he would go solo like Canelo as both are really very close right now. I don't know what probably Teo has switch coach or at least hire the services of Reynoso instead of his father?

Yes, but that's how boxing game right now, and that is why others says that boxing is dead because of this kind of promoters who doesn't want superfight to happen unless they know that they are  going to win.

And that's why Pacman is really a generational talent, and even if Arum thinks that he doesn't want to fight his big guys, Pacman might have insist to fight them. Or maybe we  the pay is not that good as he might have scam Manny as well or even if Manny is the A-side, he could still not getting the money that others boxers might have been getting in his stature.

Anyways, it's time for the OP to close this thread.