Japanese world champion Naoya Inoue defended his undisputed super-bantamweight crown with a destructive fourth-round stoppage win against the overmatched Ye Joon Kim.
The 31-year-old controlled the opening rounds before increasing the intensity and dropping Kim with a flush right hand at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena.
The Korean challenger, who took the fight at just 11 days’ notice, valiantly attempted to get up on the count of 10 but the 32-year-old was saved from further damage as the referee halted the contest.
Nicknamed ‘Monster’ for his outstanding knockout ratio, unbeaten Inoue defended his WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine titles with a 26th stoppage in 29 professional wins.
“I didn’t have enough time to study my opponent so I took some time to see what’s coming from him,” Inoue said.
Inoue is a four-weight world champion and arguably boxing’s number one pound-for-pound boxer.
He is also a two-weight undisputed champion having won all four recognised world titles at bantamweight.
Inoue said his next two fights will take place in Las Vegas and Saudi Arabia.
