World title challenger Sam Goodman has described his cancelled bouts with undisputed champion Naoya Inoue as a ‘tough few months’, with the Australian’s full focus now on taking Nick Ball’s WBA featherweight belt this weekend, live on DAZN.
Unbeaten in 20 fights, Goodman was due to meet one of boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighters in Inoue in December 2024. However, in the week before the fight, a cut on Goodman’s eyelid led to the fight being pushed back to January 2025.
Unfortunately for Goodman, the cut opened up again on his return to contact training, seeing the bout with Inoue fall through.
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Explaining the situation to Boxing News, Goodman shared: “It was a tough few months, getting through that and getting back to the ring. I had to take some time to let the eye heal up properly. After the first cut, we went back into it pretty quickly – not the sparring, we took about a month off.”
He added: “So I was going into that second block of camp with no sparring. I had one contact session, and it split back open, much, much worse. So, that’s what that was, and after that I had to take a few months, give it a good while to let it all heal up.”
Goodman defeated Mexican prospect Cesar Vaca, now 19-2-1, via unanimous decison in May, a fight that he believed helped him get over missing out on the chance to face two-division undisputed champion Inoue.
He continued: “Man, it was just good to get back into the ring for my last fight, and know that I can go through a full camp without sustaining a cut. But it was tough, I lost the biggest opportunity.
He added: “After winning my last fight, it looked like I was still going to be out of the title picture, and I didn’t really know where to look next.”
Having fought just above the super bantamweight limit for his last fight, Goodman was given the opportunity to move up to featherweight and compete with Ball, the WBO’s champion at 126lbs.
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“This popped up almost out of nowhere, and it was almost a no-brainer,” Goodman restarted. “I’ve done this sport my whole life to become a world champion, and this is my shot. I know my world opens up, winning this fight. It’s all about that. I’m not looking past this fight.
“I’m not getting overly emotional about everything, I’m just worried about the job and doing whatever I have to do, and doing whatever it takes to win this fight.
“That’s where my head is at, and that’s all my focus is on – beating this guy. After that I know the opportunities and what lies ahead.”
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