Sam Goodman’s title fight against Naoya Inoue has been postponed, after the Australian picked up a heartbreaking injury while sparring.
Set to contend for the title of undisputed super bantamweight world champion on Christmas Eve, Goodman was injured in his final training session on Australian soil.
He suffered a cut above his left eye in this sparring session, one which he reportedly attempted to push through at first, before being talked down by his management.
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BREAKING: Sam Goodman’s world title fight with Naoya Inoue is off after he picked up a cut on his eye in his last spar before flying to Tokyo. @telegraph_sport @NoLimit_Boxing https://t.co/MdO9gUGa5C pic.twitter.com/nRvUVIjtAD
— Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) December 14, 2024
When will Sam Goodman vs. Naoya Inoue fight after eye injury forced postponement?
Yet while initial concerns stemmed around Inoue moving on from Goodman and searching for a new opponents, a silver lining quickly emerged.
The Japanese superstar took to social media to announce that his bout against the Aussie would still go ahead, with a new date provided; January 24.
Naoya Inoue has announced that his undisputed defence against Sam Goodman will be moved to Friday 24 January, following Goodman’s cut in this morning’s final sparring session #InoueGoodman https://t.co/SqaYcVABDP
— Ben Damon (@ben_damon) December 14, 2024
“To Inoue and his team, I know they would’ve been preparing hard for this fight and I don’t want my opportunity to go anywhere,” Goodman had said only hours before Inoue announced the new date.
“I want to fight this guy. This has been a 14-week camp but this has been the last 15 years of my life, everything I’ve ever done to get into this position and to take this guy on.
“I just want the chance to have a crack against him for all those belts. And hopefully we can get it on sooner rather than later once this cut heals up.”
