Inoue’s Title Defense Postponed Following Goodman’s Injury

Naoya Inoue previously defeated Ireland’s TJ Doheny in his most recent title defense, which occurred in September. The scheduled Christmas Eve defense of Naoya Inoue’s world super-bantamweight titles has been put off following an injury sustained by his Australian challenger, Sam Goodman, during training. Goodman’s training facility disclosed on Saturday that he incurred an eye laceration during a sparring session, with reports indicating the necessity of four stitches. A revised date for the event has been established as Friday, 24 January, to take place at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo. “I’m sorry to everyone who was looking forward to it,” the 31-year-old Inoue posted on his X account. He added, “We hope you will come again on the new dates. Let’s fight at our best.” Both competitors maintain an undefeated record, with the Japanese champion, Inoue, having secured 25 of his 28 victories by knockout. Inoue is set to defend his IBF, WBC, WBA, and WBO belts against Goodman, aged 26, who has achieved eight knockouts among his 19 wins.