-
Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing Insider
Sam Goodman suffered a serious cut over his eye and won’t be available to challenge undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue on Dec. 24 in Tokyo, officials told ESPN on Friday night.
Australia’s Goodman, the mandatory challenger, was pictured with a gash over his left eye in a social media post from Fox Sports Australia. According to the post, Goodman’s team is seeking a delay for the fight.
However, Inoue will fight a replacement opponent on Christmas Eve if a suitable replacement opponent can be secured on 10 days’ notice, officials said.
A major star in Japan, Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) sold out the Tokyo Dome in May when he knocked out Luis Nery with 50,000-plus in attendance. In September, Inoue retained his four 122-pound belts with a seventh-round TKO of TJ Doheny, who is also from Australia.
The Inoue-Goodman fight was set to be streamed on ESPN+ on Christmas Eve morning in the U.S.
Inoue, ESPN’s No. 3 pound-for-pound boxer, was a -2000 favorite to defeat Goodman, according to ESPN BET. Inoue is already an all-time great, a four-division champion who has dominated every weight class he has reigned in.
Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs), 25, is ESPN’s No. 4 junior featherweight and has proved his mettle in wins over fellow contenders Ra’eese Aleem and Doheny. He is coming off a July decision win over Thai fringe contender Thachtana Luangphon.
Should he find a replacement opponent, Inoue would be taking part in his third fight of the year and the third defense of his undisputed championship and would fulfill another mandatory obligation. The 31-year-old will still owe a mandatory defense afterward against Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
Inoue, a future Hall of Famer, hasn’t competed in the U.S. since June 2021, but there are plans for him to return for a stateside fight in 2025.