Sam Goodman’s final sparring session ahead of his undisputed fight with Naoya Inoue took an unfortunate turn, as the Australian suffered a cut over his eye. Ben Damon of FOX Sports Australia shared the news on X, including a photo of the injury.
The cut, while not severe, is significant enough to put Goodman’s scheduled December 24 clash in Tokyo at risk. Facing a dominant champion like Naoya Inoue at less than full fitness - especially as a massive underdog - is a gamble Goodman’s camp seems unwilling to take. They are reportedly pushing for a postponement, and Goodman’s planned departure to Tokyo has been delayed.
Read the full post with a photo here.
Should the fight be postponed, the question arises whether Inoue will still fight on December 24. As one of boxing’s top stars, Inoue could potentially find a willing challenger from the sanctioning bodies’ top 15 rankings who is close to weight and prepared to step in. The Tokyo event features a strong undercard, including Yoshiki Takei defending his WBO bantamweight title, so a late replacement for Inoue could still salvage the show.
P.S. The fight was postponed to 24th January.
Read more about the Goodman vs. Inoue here.
Image Credit: No Limit Boxing