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NAOYA INOUE may not be fighting on Christmas Eve after all.
Sam Goodman, the Australian competitor who was due to challenge Inoue for the Japanese superstar’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 122-pound titles on Dec. 24 in Tokyo, suffered a cut during Friday’s sparring session that forced him to withdraw from their 12-round bout. title fight that night. Goodman cut himself just above his left eyelid during what was supposed to be his final sparring session before flying from Australia to Japan on Sunday.
Australian television journalist Ben Damon first reported Goodman’s cut on social media on Friday night.
Boxing News has confirmed that Goodman’s handlers have asked for the entire event to be postponed to January 24 in order to host the first contender in the IBF and WBO junior featherweight rankings.
Inoue’s representatives considered replacing Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) with Japan’s Toshiki Shimomachi (19-1-3, 12 KOs), who is scheduled to fight another Japanese boxer, Misaki Hirano (11-1, 4 KOs). in 10 rounds on the December 24 undercard.
Simomachi is ranked No. 5 by the IBF, No. 8 by the WBC and No. 11 by the WBA at 122 pounds. The WBO lists Simomachi as its No. 7 contender at featherweight (126 pounds).
Ariake Arena was sold out for the card that was supposed to feature Inoue-Goodman, which was a significant factor in Inoue’s handlers not wanting to postpone the event.
Perhaps more problematic, however, is that Shimomachi is a 5-foot-10½ southpaw, while Goodman is 5-foot-6½ and fights from a right-handed stance. The change in strategy for the southpaw, without the benefit of much, if any, sparring against left-handed boxers this late in training camp apparently prompted Inoue’s handlers to simply fight Goodman a month later.
Still, a one-month delay could derail Inoue’s 2025 plans.
Inoue was set to return to the ring on April 12 in Las Vegas if he defeated Goodman on December 24. His likely opponent in that fight would be Mexican opponent Alan Picasso (30-0-1, 16 KOs), who must first defeat Colombia’s Yehison Cuello (13-2-1, 11 KOs) on Saturday night in Tijuana. . 1 challenger for one of Inoue’s four championships. If Inoue succeeds in back-to-back defenses against Goodman and Picasso, he wants to fight WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs) at the Tokyo Dome in what would be the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history. at the end of next summer or early next fall. Nakatani should get another fight, perhaps in his 122-pound debut, to secure his spot in the Inoue showdown as well.
