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Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing Insider
Undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue’s fight against Sam Goodman has been rescheduled for Jan. 24 in Tokyo, Inoue announced on social media late Friday night.
The fight was originally scheduled for Dec. 24 but was pushed back after Goodman suffered a serious cut over his left eye. It is set to be streamed on ESPN+ the morning of Jan. 24 in the U.S.
A major star in Japan, Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) sold out the Tokyo Dome in May when he knocked out Luis Nery with 50,000-plus in attendance. In September, Inoue retained his four 122-pound belts with a seventh-round TKO of TJ Doheny, who is also from Australia.
Inoue, ESPN’s No. 3 pound-for-pound boxer, was a -2000 favorite to defeat Goodman, according to ESPN BET. Inoue is already an all-time great, a four-division champion who has dominated every weight class he has reigned in.
Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs), 25, is ESPN’s No. 4 junior featherweight and has proved his mettle in wins over fellow contenders Ra’eese Aleem and Doheny. He is coming off a July decision win over Thai fringe contender Thachtana Luangphon.
Inoue will be making the third defense of his undisputed championship and will fulfill another mandatory obligation. The 31-year-old will still owe a mandatory defense afterward against Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
Inoue, a future Hall of Famer, hasn’t competed in the U.S. since June 2021, but there are plans for him to return for a stateside fight in 2025.