Sam Goodman grateful for 'out of the blue' title opportunity after Naoya Inoue fallout

Yahoo

19 hours ago

The call came out of the blue and at a point in his career when Sam Goodman wasn't sure when he would see another title opportunity.
The unbeaten Australian was just a couple of weeks removed from his May 14 win over Cesar Vaca, which ended a 10-month inactive stretch. During that time, he suffered a cut over his left eye in back-to-back training camps, which postponed and then outright canceled his planned challenge of undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs).
A career 122-pounder whose divisional king had a full schedule for the rest of 2025, Goodman could not have been more pleased to have been offered another title fight. It meant a move up in weight to face Nick Ball (22-0-1, 13 KOs), the squat and scrappy WBA featherweight titlist.
'It was a bit of a shock opportunity to move up and fight for a world title,' Goodman told Uncrowned. 'The move up was a bit inevitable. I'm a decent-sized super bantamweight, so this for sure would have been something we'd have been looking at. Making 122 is sustainable for now.
'But after losing out on a shot for the world title, it looked like I was gonna get shut out for a while. I didn't know what was going to be next, then this came out of the blue. I was like 'abso-f***ing-lutely.' It was a no-brainer; we jumped at it.'
Ball-Goodman is part of Saturday's DAZN pay-per-view event, which will air live from ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The show is headlined by top heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma (12-0, 12 KOs) in a step up against Dillian Whyte (31-3, 21 KOs). However, Goodman's challenge of Ball represents the evening's lone major title fight.
It makes the outing that much more significant to the 26-year-old from Albion Park, Australia, even if it's not how he originally envisioned the shape of his 2025 campaign.
Goodman entered 2025 fully prepared to shock the world in his already rescheduled championship showdown with Inoue. The two were due to meet Dec. 24 in Tokyo, only for the bout to be met with a one-month delay after the top-rated contender suffered a cut over his left eye during his final day of sparring.
The Jan. 24 date moved forward only for Inoue after Goodman suffered another cut in the same exact spot. This one came roughly two weeks out from fight night, at which point he was left on the injured list and out in the cold.
It also meant losing out on the career payday that would have come with the title challenge. Worse, he had to let his cut — which required roughly 15 stitches — time to heal before he could even think about returning to the sport that provided his only source of income.
'It was a lot of struggle, to be honest,' Goodman recalled. 'I don't know anything else but boxing. This is my job, this is my work and how I put food on the table and make my bread. To be honest, it was a tough few months. I bought another house prior to the first Inoue fight date and making the payments depended on getting that payday.
'Financially, it was killing me to not be able to fight during that time. I was living week-to-week, borrowing money just to stay on my feet. The expenses were very high, and my income was very low. I had my fight in Wollongong last July, hadn't fought since then. I put all the money we had down on the house, then wound up not even getting that check. It hurt; it was tough.'
If nothing else, it provided him with the type of mentality a fighter of Goodman's stature wouldn't carry into an otherwise routine stay-busy fight.
Yet, the fight with Vaca in May was the only thing on his mind because it was the only opportunity on his schedule. The walk to the ring that night in Sydney was made without any knowledge of what a win would lead to in his immediate — or even his long-term — future.
'Honestly, we had no plans after the Vaca fight when we were entering the ring,' Goodman said. 'It allowed me to focus solely on that fight, to be honest. My head was nowhere near focusing on what was next.
'The only thing going through my mind was, 'If you slip up against Vaca, then … f***, it's time to rethink things.' I had to go all in for that fight because the opportunities that once lied ahead were diminishing quickly. All my focus was on that fight.'
It was enough to deliver a dominant performance and shake off the rust the came with having not fought since July 2024.
Little did he know at the time how crucial it was to return to action, regardless of the stakes.
'Before the fight, I didn't really think it was that important,' Goodman said. 'It was just a fight to get back in the ring but without knowing what was next. Looking back at it now, it definitely was crucial.
'Just to get through that camp after the last two rounds of injuries we had, all the contact and stuff. It was a bit of an emotional buildup to get back into the ring as well. It was big. I was extremely grateful for it, just to get back to doing my job.'
A couple of weeks later, Goodman and his team huddled to discuss his next move. It was agreed activity was important and at some point a path to return to the title stage.
Then came the shortcut they least expected.
'About two days before we got the call for the Nick Ball fight, my coach and I were talking about what was next,' remembered Goodman. 'The plan was probably to fight around this time, just to keep active, but we weren't signed to fight anyone.
'Then two days later, we got that call.'
Goodman has spent the entirety of his seven-year career at super bantamweight, save for a brief two-fight stretch in 2021. He rose to the mandatory position with the IBF after a June 2023 victory over then-unbeaten Ra'eese Aleem in Broadbeach, Australia.
By the time he was set to challenge Inoue, Goodman was also the No. 1 WBO challenger. The long wait for his first title fight proved for naught, as both sanctioning bodies dropped him from the top contender spot.
Inoue, Uncrowned's No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter, is next due to defend his undisputed championship against Uzbekistan's Murodjon Akhmadaliev (14-1, 11 KOs), the WBA interim titlist, on Sept. 14 in Nagoya, Japan. A win on that night is expected to lead to a clash with WBC mandatory challenger Alan David Picasso on Dec. 27 in Japan.
Needless to say, any decision to remain at 122 for the rest of the year would mean a bleak 2025 campaign. Granted, any fight is better than the downtime he was forced to endure, along with the opportunities lost along the way.
Still, it was hardly the career turn he expected, especially on those nights earlier this year when the bills began to pile up and he was unable to punch for pay while recovering from surgery.
'There is no way you can see what I went through during that time and think I wanted it to turn out that way. I put my family and myself through all kinds of s***. This was the biggest opportunity of my career.
'Whatever was said about me, none of that really bothered me. I couldn't give a f*** what anyone outside of my inner circle thinks about me. People claiming I tried to get out of the fight or whatever, all I got to say to that is that the loudest boos in the room usually come from the people in the cheapest seats.'
Goodman's right back in a position where a win would provide motivation for Inoue to once again look his way. The future Hall of Famer from Yokohama, Japan, has long viewed featherweight as a likely final destination, a weight where he believes he can win a fifth divisional title.
A win Saturday leaves Goodman in a far more favorable position than at any point since the moment in mid-January when he lost out on the Inoue fight.
Still, there remains plenty of work to be done.
For the second time this year, Goodman is listed as a sizable underdog ahead of a major title challenge. Inoue was as much as a -2500 favorite against Goodman before the bout's cancellation.
Goodman will still enter the ring with plenty to prove. Liverpool's Ball is listed as a -540 favorite at BetMGM, with Goodman at +300.
Defying the odds has always been a motivating factor for Goodman. The belief that there is so much for him to accomplish helped get him through what would have been the darkest point for most other athletes.
'It was just the confidence that I would be able to resume my career,' Goodman said. 'I knew this was a lost opportunity after that second cut, but it didn't mean my career was over. So, I just had to get back into the ring.
'That first sparring session, I knew would get me back on my feet. That's really all it took. I don't dwell on darkness; I always try to find a silver lining. For me, it was knowing that I still had so much more to achieve in this sport. My family and my team kept my head in the right place. If anything, it made me appreciate all those around me even more.'
Now, all he has to do is win at a new weight and in a country in which he's never before fought.
Fortunately, it's the same intention Goodman had at the start of the year.
'Whatever it takes to win is all that's on my mind,' Goodman said. 'There's no measure I won't take to get my hand raised that night. My head is at beating Nick Ball and winning that world title.
'It's why I got in this game. It's a lifetime's worth of work to get to this moment, and I've got to seize it.'