Sam Goodman has suffered an eye injury and will have to withdraw from his scheduled January 24 bout against unified super bantamweight champion Naoya “The Beast” Inoue. The two fighters were scheduled to fight at Ariake Arena, Koto-ku, in Tokyo, Japan.
Goodman is out
#1 IBF and WBO ranked contender Goodman's No Limit Boxing promoters have reported a “recurrence of his eye injury.” They don't say when Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) will be healthy enough to reschedule the fight against unbeaten Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs).
If the injury keeps Goodman on the shelf for too long, Inoue will have to decide whether to give up his fight and move up or sit and wait. It's not a big fight that fans outside of Australia are interested in seeing.
Fans want Inoue to face interim WBA champion Murodjon Akhmadaliyev (13-1, 10 KOs) as an alternative as that would be an upgrade in talent. Akhmadaliyev and his promoter had been pushing for a fight against Inouye for a long time without success.
This would be the perfect time. At this stage of his career, Inoue doesn't take pressure and does what he wants. It's Canelo in the 122-pound division.
“No Limit Boxing regrets to announce that Sam Goodman has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled bout against Naoya Inoue on January 24 due to a recurrence of his eye injury.
We wish Sam a full and speedy recovery and will provide updates on the event in due course.
