‘Oh my gosh’: Naoya Inoue destroys opponent after taunt

Boxing “Monster” Naoya Inoue has dropped jaws around the boxing world after appearing to take a taunt very personally.

Noaya Inoue has dropped jaws around the world with yet another thunderous KO victory.

The 31-year-old “Monster” landed a juddering one-two combination near the end of the fourth round to knock out Kim Ye-joon, who stepped in to replace injured Australian Sam Goodman just two weeks before the fight.

The South Korean had nothing to lose, but he paid a heavy price when he appeared to taunt Inoue just moments before he was knocked out in the fourth round.

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The 32-year-old Kim, who grew up in an orphanage and did not take up boxing until he was 20, is ranked No. 11 by the WBO in the super-bantamweight division.

He had the chance to become South Korea’s first male world champion in almost 20 years but he had no answer when Inoue turned up the heat in the fourth round.

Kim’s fate was sealed when he reacted to an attack from Inoue by gesturing for the champion to come at him again.

The fight was over mere seconds after a Kim performed another taunting wave of his gloves.

You can watch the KO in the video player above.

Kim gestured for Inoue to come at him.

It backfired in a big way.

Inoue duly obliged, landing a thundering combination to send the Korean to the canvas.

“I was planning to knock him out anyway so I don’t think he really needed to do that,” Inoue said.

Kim had beaten all seven Japanese fighters he had faced previously but said Inoue was “faster and stronger than I thought he would be”.

“Of course I came here to win, so this is difficult for me to take,” said Kim, who was fighting for a world title for the first time.

“My tactics were to get Inoue to come close to me and then hit him on the counter.”

They backfired spectacularly.

Promoter Top Rank Boxing posted on X: “Kim asked for more and Inoue made him pay. Be careful what you wish for”.

Boxing commentator Teddy Atlas was impressed with Inoue’s ability to end it — just like Lee asked for.

“Inoue comes from a respectful culture, his opponent gestured to his chin so he placed a right hand on it. Manners! And Talent”.

One ESPN boxing commentator screamed, “Oh my gosh” after seeing the KO.

Inoue is now expected to take his prodigious skills to Las Vegas for his next.

It was Inoue’s third title defence since becoming undisputed super-bantamweight world champion in December 2023.

It was also his 10th straight knock-out win.

Inoue said he was glad the fight was finally over.

“I gave everything to be ready for the fight in December, and then it was postponed 10 days before it was supposed to happen,” he said.

“Then I gave it everything in training for the month after. I didn’t really feel it when I was training hard, but now that the fight is over, I feel very tired.”

Japan's Naoya Inoue (R) was throwing thunder. Photo by Philip FONG / AFP.

Kim Ye-joon was an unfortunate punching bag. Photo by Philip FONG / AFP)

The bout had already been postponed by a month from its original December 24 date when Goodman suffered a cut above his eye in training.

Inoue said the disruptions had taken a toll and described the win as “a weight off my shoulders”.

“I’m exhausted, but more than being physically tired, there has been a lot going on in the past two months,” he said.

“My opponent got injured and the fight was postponed, then I got a different opponent. It has been difficult mentally.”

Inoue, who took his record to 29-0 with 26 knockouts, said his plan was to fight in Las Vegas in the spring.

He has also been tipped to fight in Saudi Arabia later this year after signing a sponsorship deal with the country’s Riyadh Season.

He has not fought outside Japan since he beat Michael Dasmarinas in Las Vegas in June 2021.

“I don’t know how complete I am as a boxer. I want to keep training so that I can keep improving until the end of my career,” said Inoue.

— with AFP

Originally published as ‘Oh my gosh’: Naoya Inoue destroys opponent after taunt