It is key to put the winning years together to push forward, but January is proving to be a relatively quiet month for fans of the sport.
All of that changes very quickly when the calendar ticks over to February, while we have had some early news about the new Ring Magazine led cards that will be considered separate to the Riyadh Season events.
That has to be made clear because Ring Magazine is obviously now owned by Turki Alalshikh, who continues to be the face of the Saudi authorities despite his own promotional events being put together. The first is the big card in the United States featuring both Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia as they prepare to face off in Saudi Arabia in a rematch later in the year.
Reports continue to suggest we are getting closer to hearing about Terence Crawford's bid to dethrone Canelo Alvarez in the Super Middleweight Division, although both could be out in tune up events in May before a September showdown.
A fight that does not deserve the same billing as some of those mentioned will headline in London, assuming all the minor details are now finally signed off- Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn will still bring a huge amount of financial reward for the two fighters with Tottenham Hotspur Stadium looking to be the venue for that one. It might not be an elite fight, but the build up is going to be spiteful and that is yet another fight that is expected to be a two fight deal, much like the Haney vs Garcia rematch is set to be.
The opening weekend of February is going to be headlined by David Benavidez vs David Morrell, two fighters who feel they have had to move into the Light Heavyweight Division because of Canelo's refusal to face them at Super Middleweight.
That will be frustrating, but the winner of this one is going to become a mandatory for one of the World Titles that will be held by the winner of the Undisputed Light Heavyweight title fight later in February when Dmitry Bivol takes a second shot at Artur Beterbiev.
It is a bout that could be put on a big card, with big rewards for the winner.
Before that, we have a weekend of decent action across a couple of days.
It is always an honour to be able to watch Naoya Inoue, even if original opponent Sam Goodman has withdrawn from the contest for a second time. The show must go on though and Inoue is another fighter who could be offered with financial rewards to fight in Riyadh with a number of decent options available to him.
First things first and that is dealing with this replacement and matching the kind of impressive victory that Jai Opetaia had earlier this month.
The Cruiserweight World Champion and Justis Huni both secured big wins Down Under and they have helped open the 2025 season with two winners from the selections made.
A new thread will be used for the two Matchroom cards that are taking place on Saturday, but this one will be focusing on the top Super Bantamweight in the world and the remainder of the card being run in Japan.
Naoya Inoue vs Ye Joon Kim
There is no doubting that Naoya Inoue has become much more active as he has moved through the weight classes and it was only an injury to Sam Goodman that prevented him from fighting three times in 2024.
He is not exactly taking on weak opposition either, but this replacement looks like being one of the 'easier' fights Naoya Inoue has had in recent years.
Ultimately it is not his fault with Goodman pulling out of the fight for a second time and Naoya Inoue does not want to see his career lose the momentum he has built over the last three years. By getting this mandatory out of the way, Naoya Inoue can look for bigger challenges in the months ahead, whether that means moving up another weight class or having someone step up to prepare to face him.
With the Saudi riches knocking on his door, Naoya Inoue could be back out pretty quickly as long as he does what is expected in this fight.
Ye Joon Kim had been on standby to ensure the event would go ahead even if Sam Goodman was to not able to go and that is credit to the local promoters. The 32 year old South Korean deserves his praise too, but there is no doubt that this is a massive step up in class for Ye Joon Kim and it would perhaps be surprising if this is competitive, never mind if the upset can actually be achieved.
One punch can change things in Boxing, as Jaime Munguia will point out, but Ye Joon Kim is fighting someone who has shown he can come through adversity against much higher calibre of opponents.
In all honesty this feels like a fight that will go as long as Naoya Inoue wants- the feeling is that the Champion will know he cannot afford to pick up any cuts and bruises that prevents him from being back out in the ring pretty quickly. This should see him motivated and the 'Monster' may be in seek and destroy mode, which may end up producing a big Stoppage at some point during the first third of this contest.
There is always a decent undercard put together on the Naoya Inoue shows in Japan and the chief support features Jin Sasaki who is continuing his rebuild.
Seven wins and a Majority Draw has just reminded fans of the talents of Sasaki after the late Stoppage at the hands of the still unbeaten Andy Hiraoka.
He had to move up in Division having missed weight ahead of that defeat to Hiraoka and Jin Sasaki has looked pretty good in the Welterweight ranks.
With the likes of Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr moved on and Jaron Ennis unlikely to be long for the Division, Jin Sasaki is one of a number of fighters that will be looking to fill the void.
Veteran Shoki Sakai has fourteen defeats on the record, but has yet to be Stopped.
That experience could keep him out of harms way, but Jin Sasaki will keep the pressure on and he may make a real statement by forcing the Stoppage against Shoki Sakai in the second half of this contest.
MY PICKS: Naoya Inoue to Win Between 1-4 @ 1.72 Bet365 (2 Units)
Jin Sasaki to Win Between 7-12 @ 2.50 Bet365 (1 Unit)
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