Promoter No Limit Boxing are ready to make a big push to bring undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue 27-0 (24) to Australia to face his mandatory contender Sam ‘The Ghost’ Goodman 18-0 (8).
Japanese superstar Inoue, 31, is fresh off a sixth-round knockout victory over Mexican southpaw Luis Nery 35-2 (27) in front of 55,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on Monday night.
Australian Goodman, 25, has been patiently waiting for his shot at the 122-pound belts. He is ranked the number one contender by both the IBF and the WBO.
“We’re going to be really pushing the case for Sam’s mandatory to be enforced for the Inoue fight,” George Rose of No Limit Boxing told CODE Sports before flying out to the IBF convention in Puerto Rico this week.
“Inoue’s the biggest drawcard in the lower weights. There’s nobody else around those weights who can draw the way he can, so he’s the guy everyone wants.
“It’s the same as everyone wanting that Canelo fight. Everyone wants their shot, but Sam’s fought his way into a mandatory position.
“He’s done everything right in the ring and is preparing for the fight as best as he can.
“Any time we can bring big fights to Australia, we’ll do it. We put on great shows in Australia and they’re shows people across the globe are really impressed by.
“A fight with Inoue is huge and it’s a very expensive exercise. When you’ve got 55,000 people, it’s hard to pull him away from that home ground advantage, but we’ll still have a crack.
“Inoue’s got such a big support base and the trip from Australia to Japan is very easy, there’s not much of a time difference, so his Japanese supporters can come down and watch.”
Goodman was ringside to the Inoue-Nery fight. He stepped into the ring after the bout to congratulate the champion and issue his challenge.
“I’ve been mandatory for over a year,” he said. “Either give up the belts or fight me. Let’s get it on.”
Hall of Famer Jeff Fenech thinks fighting Inoue is tantamount to a suicide mission for Goodman. But with Inoue holding the WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine belts at super bantamweight, Goodman has little choice but to face him if he wants to become world champion.
“Sam’s a great prospect, but listen, if they think he can beat Inoue… when he gets beaten, you’ve got to come back from that and it won’t be the same, because you have these little self doubts,” Fenech told Wide World of Sports this week.
“I don’t know what they’re doing. It’s suicide. When Inoue won his first title I was training the Mexican against him. I know how good he is.
“It’s great to be confident but then again it’s my job as a trainer and manager to be like, ‘This is not the route we need to take. Let’s wait. Become world champion and if we’re going to become world champion let’s not get knocked out.’ But good luck to them. Money’s one thing but maybe money is the only thing for these guys.”
