Inoue – Goodman Postponement: A Fight Few Will Miss

Undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue’s fight against Sam Goodman on December 24 will have to be postponed after the Australian suffered a cut over his left eye during his latest sparring session. The two were supposed to meet at the Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku in Tokyo, Japan.

No replacement?

It remains to be seen if Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) will find a replacement opponent to save the date and card. It’s not like there was much interest from non-Australian fans to see Inoue defend against the 26-year-old Goodman, as the fight was seen as a mismatch.

Fans wouldn’t complain if Inoue never rescheduled the Goodman fight because that’s not one of the names on the wish list of people to face the Japanese fighter.

They want Inoue to start fighting 50-50 fights, not 90-10. This is why Naoya is not popular outside of his native Japan. He never puts himself in a position where he could lose fighting guys who have a chance to beat him. He is not a risk taker.

Goodman had never defeated any notable opponent to acquire his #1 ranking with the IBF and WBO. Boxing fans wanted to see Inoue take a talented candidate for a trade, namely Murodjon Akhmadaliev or John Riel Casimero. Goodman was just another in a long line of disappointing opponents that Inoue faced during his 12-year professional career.

Inoue has taken his time moving up to 126 to face the dangerous talents in this division, and some believe he has stage fright, knowing he is expected to fight these dangerous apex predators :

Rafael Espinoza
Bruce Carrington
King Vargas
Stephen Fulton
Angelo Leo
Brandon Figueroa
Sulaimaan Segawa

Is it too much to ask of Inoue to fight one of these assassins? Many of these guys would be an absolute nightmare for the 31-year-old Inoue, which may be why he is hesitant to move up to featherweight.

Goodman’s injury

disaster Sam Goodman has cut his eye in his final spar before the undisputed fight with Naoya Inoue. Goodman’s camp is now pushing to delay the scheduled Christmas Eve fight in Tokyo. Goodman was due to fly out tomorrow #InoueGoodman pic.twitter.com/cdq6UpIMI8

— Ben Damon (@ben_damon) December 14, 2024