Sam Goodman produced the greatest performance of his boxing career to win the International Boxing Federation (IBF) interim super bantamweight world title with a unanimous points win over Japan’s Ryosuke Nishida in Tokyo.
In a gruelling, all-action contest, 27-year-old Goodman from Albion Park on the NSW South Coast won by margins of three, five and seven points.
The South African referee deducted a point from both men in a wild eighth round, first from Goodman for a head butt and a few seconds later from Nishida for a low blow
Former IBF Bantamweight champion Nishida was docked another point in the tenth for a low blow and got another warning from the referee in the 11th.
The scores were 114-111, 116-109 and 115-110.
The win kept alive the possibility of a fight against the undisputed champion of the division, Japanese superstar, Naoya Inoue, who Goodman was scheduled to fight in late 2024, but had to cancel twice after suffering cuts while sparring.
Australia’s Sam Goodman celebrates his victory over Japan’s Ryosuke Nishida, after their IBF super bantamweight interim title boxing match in Tokyo on Sunday
Goodman and Nishida were both docked points for a headbutt and low blow respectively. The Aussie is set to line up a fight with the champion Naoya Inoue who is on a break
Goodman joined bantamweight Lionel Rose (1968) and super flyweight Andrew Moloney (2026) as Australians to have won a version of a world title in Japan.
Goodman surprised by being willing to trade inside for much of the fight and kept throwing punches, despite taking plenty of body shots.
The New South Welshman displayed his trademark movement, but often chose to stay In the pocket and trade, rather than fight from a longer distance.
He peppered the Japanese fighter with shots to the head and body and landed plenty of uppercuts.
A willing Nishida (11-2, 2 KOs) was happy to engage, targeting Goodman’s body, but couldn’t break him down, or match the Australian’s output, variety and efficiency.
The Australian suffered a cut forehead In the third round, while Nishida was also cut in a tough, attritional fight.
Goodman won on a unanimous points decision
“I’m feeling absolutely unbelievable, this has been a lifetime’s amount of work that has gone Into this,” Goodman said.
“This ain’t just mine, this is everyone’s, everyone who has played a part In this journey.
“We ain’t stopping here, I want all the names.
“I’m here to compete with the best of them and Nishida was one of them, he’s a very, very tough champion and he brought the best out of me.”
Inoue is reportedly looking at just one more fight at super bantamweight against WBA bantamweight Super champion Jesse Rodriguez before moving up to featherweight, but Goodman made it clear he would relish a fight with the Japanese great.
“If it’s him then bring it on, there’s so many big fights here and he’s the biggest … I welcome any challenges,” Goodman said.
He remains unbeaten at super bantamweight, suffering his only professional loss in an unsuccessful challenge to the then WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball last year.
