Naoya Inoue is back in the ring on January 24 when he faces Sam Goodman at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Squaring off against the Australian contender, the Japanese four-division world champion puts his undisputed 122-pound title on the line.
Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) became a two-division undisputed champion in late 2023, eliminating Marlon Tapales in the 10th round. In his previous outing last September, the 31-year-old made the second successful defense of his super bantamweight title against TJ Doheny.
Battling it out atop the fight card back at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Inoue defeated Doheny by way of TKO due to injury. After a series of punches from the defending champion, the Irish-born former IBF titleholder signaled that he needed a break, tried to walk to his corner, and took a knee.
The fight was stopped at 16 seconds into the seventh round. Going into the round, the representative of the host country was leading with the scores 58-56, 59-55, and 59-55.
Naoya Inoue approaches the third defense of his title in a rescheduled bout against Sam Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs). The 26-year-old challenges “The Monster” in his first fight abroad.