Top Aussie boxer reveals why he stole a VERY common item from Coles
Luckless Australian boxer Sam Goodman might have hit the jackpot after reviving his flagging fortunes with a unanimous points win over Mexican Cesar Vaca in Sydney.
Goodman improved his unbeaten record to 20-0 with a dominant performance at the Hordern Pavilion on Wednesday night that could propel the 26-year-old into a blockbuster world title shot in the US.
But after the fight, Goodman opened up on the hardships he has faced in the past few months, revealing that he had once resorted to missing out on stealing dog food from Coles.
The 26-year-old fighter had closed on a house situated on the Central Coast prior to his scheduled fight with Naoya Inoue on Christmas Eve in Japan.
However, the Aussie fighter suffered a cut to his eye following an accident in training and was forced to withdraw from the bout, which had been rescheduled for January 24.
He required four stitches but was forced to pull out of the second bout, after the cut reopened with the fight being cruelly snatched away from him.
Goodman was due to make over one million dollars following the fight.
But the devastated fighter spiralled into financial peril after being forced to pull out.
'I've had to steal dog food from Coles, so there's a headline for ya! My dog wasn't eating if I didn't,' he told Code Sports following the bout.
'Mate, I was flat out f***ing broke. I mean not a dollar.
'Home loans coming out my a***, snipping everyone I know, borrowing money off this person, off that person.
'Mate, it has been f***ing hell. I've had to rely on some people around me to help get me through this and, mate, if I didn't have 'em, I'd be f***ed.'
Goodman's team will now petition for the world's top-ranked IBF super-bantamweight fighter to be the mandatory challenger to face superstar Inoue.
He might even wind up on the same card as his No Limit stablemate Tim Tszyu's showstopper rematch with Sebastian Fundora in Las Vegas in July or August.
'I want the shot at Inoue, I want my chance,' he added.
'I'm not saying he's dodging or anything like that.
'What happened to me, it was s***, it was terrible.'
Some had accused him of ducking out of the fight himself. But he pointed to how he had been left crippled financially, following the decision to pull out.
'People are saying I'm ducking and dodging, but mate, that has financially f***ed me,' he added.
'It crippled me for six months of my life.
'Honestly, the stress that has been put on me and my family, it's massive.'
The boxer, who hails from Albion Park, New South Wales, faced losing the million-dollar home he bought late last year if he'd lost on Wednesday night.
He finished the high-stakes encounter with cuts around both eyes and was left suitably relieved to have survived without sustaining any more serious damage.
'It was a punch that got me with this one and then, f***, it was a beauty of a head butt that got me over here,' Goodman said after being awarded the contest 99-92, 99-91, 100-90 by the three judges.
'So the next two rounds were about managing to get through it and winning the fight.
'It was all about being smart the whole fight and getting that momentum back on the road to world titles.'
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