
Present and correct, ”Santa Monster” Naoya Inoue will defend his undisputed super bantamweight crown, with sleigh bells ringing, against undefeated Australian contender Sam Goodman on December 24th, the night before Christmas, at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) began his four-belt legacy in December 2022 when he stopped Paul Butler to unify all bantamweight titles. Then, in just over a year, the 31-year-old knocked out champion Stephen Fulton in July 2023 and Marlon Tapales to string together the quartet and with it, undisputed glory in the super bantamweight division.
He hit the right note in May by headlining the first boxing card at the Tokyo Dome since the historic showdown between Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas, overcoming a shocking first-round knockdown before stopping former two-division world champion Luis Nery. Then in September he scored a seventh-round TKO over former champion TJ Doheny.
Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) is a 26-year-old Australian who has been a pro since 2018. He went 4-0 in 2023, earning points wins over Doheny as well as then-unbeaten talents Ra’eese Aleem and Zhong Liu. Remaining busy and undefeated, he knocked out Mark Schleibs in March before decisioning previously unbeaten Thachtana Luangphon over 12 rounds in July.
Inoue vs. Goodman will headline a special telecast that will air live in the United States and Latin America on ESPN. AN early Christmas Special.
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