Undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue’s planned Christmas Eve title defense against Sam Goodman has been postponed. Goodman suffered a cut over his left eye in his final pre-fight sparring session. While there was some thought the Japanese superstar could seek a late replacement to keep the date, the fight has been postponed to Jan. 24, according to Goodman’s promoter.
Inoue has been one of boxing’s elite fighters for years, sitting at or near the top of every reputable pound-for-pound ranking. He has captured world titles at junior flyweight and junior bantamweight before going undisputed at bantamweight in December 2022. By the end of 2023, Inoue had won all four junior featherweight titles. Inoue defended his belts with stoppages of Luis Nery in May and TJ Doheny in September. Had the Goodman fight happened this month, it would have marked the first time since 2017 that Inoue fought three times in a calendar year.
Goodman is not expected to pose much of a challenge for Inoue, with Inoue listed as a roughly -2000 favorite over the IBF mandatory challenger.
While not viewed as an elite challenger, Goodman has done what has been asked of him in his professional career, going 19-0 with eight wins by stoppage.
There are other big plans for Inoue in 2025, including a possible return to American soil for the first time since 2021 and a mandatory title defense against Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
KVSP