Naoya Inoue may not be fighting on Christmas Eve after all.
Sam Goodman, the Australian contender who was scheduled to challenge Inoue for the Japanese superstar's IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO titles on December 24 in Tokyo, suffered a cut during Friday's sparring session forcing him to withdraw from the round 12 title fight that night. Goodman suffered a cut above his left eyelid during what was scheduled to be his last sparring session before he flies from Australia to Japan on Sunday.
Australian broadcast journalist Ben Damon first broke the news of Goodman's cutting on social media on Friday night.
Boxing News has confirmed that Goodman's handlers 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-rounder on the undercard 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 the No. 7 contender in the featherweight (126 lbs) division.
The Ariake Arena card was sold out for a card that was supposed to feature Inoue-Goodman, which was an important factor in Inoue's handlers not wanting to postpone the event.
However, what is perhaps more problematic is that Shimomachi is a 5-foot-10½ southpaw, while Goodman is 5-foot-6½ and fights from a right-handed position. Switching strategies for the southpaw, without much, if any, benefit in sparring against left-handed boxers, this late in training camp seems to have encouraged Inoue's handlers to have him fight Goodman a month later.
However, a one-month postponement could derail Inoue's 2025 plans.
Inoue was planning to return to the ring on April 12 in Las Vegas if he beat Goodman on December 24. His likely opponent in that bout is Mexican contender Alan Picasso (30-0-1, 16 KO), who must first defeat Colombia. Yehison Cuello (13-2-1, 11 KOs) came out Saturday night in Tijuana to remain the WBC's No. 1 contender for one of Inoue's four championships. If Inoue is successful in back-to-back defenses against Goodman and Picasso, he wants to face world bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs) at the Tokyo Dome in what would be the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history as well. Late next summer or early fall. Nakatani will need to win another bout, perhaps in his debut at 122 pounds, to secure his spot in the showdown with Inoue as well.
