Sam Goodman won’t fight undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue — at least not in 2024.
“He suffered a scratch on his eye during his final practice before flying to Tokyo,” Bradford wrote, also posting two photos. Wound close-up Courtesy of Australian Boxing Broadcaster Ben Damon.
Inoue vs. Goodman was originally scheduled to take place on December 24 in Tokyo. Inoue holds all four world championship titles with a record of 122 games. With a record of 19 wins and 0 losses (8 KOs), Goodman is a strong contender for the IBF and the No. 1 ranked fighter in the WBO.
This will be Inoue’s third fight of the year, with a record of 28-0 (25 KOs). He defeated contender Luis Nery via sixth-round technical knockout in May. Inoue’s seventh-round TKO victory over TJ Doheny in September was considered a busy fight, and Inoue has been staying active ahead of his clash with Goodman’s other ranked challenger.
It’s still uncertain whether Inoue-Goodman will be rescheduled and what that will mean for Inoue’s 2025 plans, which could include fighting Alan David Picasso in the U.S. in April and Japan later this year A major clash with bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani. Maybe – somewhere in between – a defense against WBA mandatory challenger Murodjon Akhmadaliev (if Akhmadaliev wins this Saturday’s fight).
