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After all, NAOYA INOUE might not wrestle on Christmas Eve.
Sam Goodman, the Australian contender who was scheduled 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 a training session on Friday that forced to withdraw from his 12 rounds. title fight that night. Goodman was cut just above his left eyelid during what was expected to be his final sparring session before flying from Australia to 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 managers have 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 have considered replacing Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) with Japan’s Toshiki Shimomachi (19-1-3, 12 KOs), who is scheduled to face another Japanese boxer, Misaki Hirano (11 -1.4 KOs). , in a 10-round undercard match on December 24.
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 No. 7 contender in the featherweight division (126 pounds).
Ariake Arena has been sold out for the card that was supposed to feature Inoue-Goodman, which was a big factor in Inoue’s managers not wanting to postpone the event.
Possibly more problematic, however, is that Shimomachi is a 5-foot-10½ southpaw, while Goodman is 5-foot-6½ and fights right-handed. Switching strategies for a southpaw, without the benefit of a big fight, if any, against left-handed boxers, apparently at the end of training camp, encouraged Inoue’s handlers to 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 have been Mexican contender Alan Picasso (30-0-1, 16 KOs), who must first defeat the Colombian. Yehison Cuello (13-2-1, 11 KOs) on Saturday night in Tijuana to remain the No. 1 WBC contender for one of Inoue’s. four championships. Should Inoue be successful in back-to-back mandatory 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 WBC history. japanese boxing late next summer or early next fall. Nakatani would need to win another bout, perhaps in his debut at 122 pounds, to secure his spot in a matchup with Inoue as well.
