NAOYA INOUE may not be fighting on Christmas Eve after all.
Sam Goodman, the Australian contender who was due to challenge Inoue for the Japanese superstar’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 122lb titles in Tokyo on December 24, suffered an injury during Friday’s sparring session that forced him to withdraw from their 12-round bout. title match that night. Goodman was cut just above his left eyelid during what was supposed to be his final sparring session before flying out of Australia for Japan on Sunday.
Australian journalist Ben Damon first reported the news of Goodman’s cut on social media on Friday night.
Boxing News has confirmed that Goodman’s handlers have pushed for the entire event to be pushed back to January 24 to accommodate the No. 1 in both 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 fellow Japanese boxer Misaki Hirano (11-1, 4 KOs), in a 10-round on the December 24 undercard.
Simomachi is ranked No. 5 by the IBF, No. 8 by the WBC and No. 11 by the WBA in the 122-pound division. The WBO lists Simomachi as its seventh contender at featherweight (126 pounds).
Ariake Arena is 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. A change in strategies for the southpaw, without much, if any, benefit of sparring against left-handed boxers, this late training camp apparently encouraged Inoue’s handlers to simply let him fight Goodman a month later.
However, a one-month delay could disrupt Inoue’s 2025 plans.
Inoue intended to return to the ring on April 12 in Las Vegas if he defeated Goodman on December 24. His likely opponent for this bout would be Mexican prospect Alan Picasso (30-0-1, 16 KOs), who must first defeat Colombia. Yehison Cuello (13-2-1, 11 KOs) on Saturday night in Tijuana to remain the No. 1 challenger. 1 WBC. one of Inoue’s four championships. Should Inoue be successful in his scheduled defense against Goodman and Picasso, he wants to face WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs) at the Tokyo Dome in what would be the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history. late next summer or early next fall. Nakatani would need to win another fight, possibly in his 122-pound debut, to secure a spot in the showdown with Inoue as well.
