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 122kg titles on December 24 in Tokyo, suffered a cut during a bout on Friday that forced him to withdraw from the 12 rounds. title match that night. Goodman was cut just above his left eyelid during his final sparring session before flying from Australia to Japan on Sunday.
Australian journalist Ben Damon first reported the news of Goodman’s axing on social media on Friday night.
Boxing News has confirmed that Goodman’s officials pushed for the entire event to be postponed to January 24 to accommodate the No. 1 contender in both the IBF and WBO junior featherweight rankings.
Inoue’s representatives considered replacing Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) with Toshiki Shimomachi (19-1-3, 12 KOs) of Japan, who is scheduled to face another Japanese boxer, Misaki Hirano (11-1, 4 KOs) , in a 10-rounder on the Dec. 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 the No. 7 contender in the featherweight division (126 pounds).
Ariake Arena is sold out for the card that was supposed to feature Inoue-Goodman, which was a major factor in Inoue’s handlers not wanting to postpone the event.
Perhaps more problematic, however, is that Shimomachi is a 5-foot-5 southpaw, while Goodman is 6½-foot and pitches right-handed. Changing strategies for a southpaw without the benefit of many, if any, fights against left-handed boxers, this final training camp apparently encouraged Inoue’s handlers to simply have 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’s Yehison Cuello (13-2-1, 11 KOs) on the night of Saturday in Tijuana to remain the WBC No. 1 challenger for one of Inoue’s four championships. If Inoue is successful 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. late next summer or early next fall. Nakatani would need to win one more fight, perhaps in his debut at 122kg, to secure his spot in a showdown with Inoue as well.
