Inoue vs Goodman postponed for January 24

Naoya Inoue "The Monster," is set to have a remarkable 2025.

On Friday, January 24, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Inoue will defend his undisputed super bantamweight title against the undefeated Australian contender Sam Goodman. The fight was originally scheduled for December 24, but Goodman suffered a cut above his left eye during sparring shortly before his trip to Tokyo.

The Inoue-Goodman bout will headline an action-packed event, which will be streamed live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+. This special early morning broadcast will also feature the return of Yoshiki Takei (10-0, 8 KOs), who will defend his WBO bantamweight world title against Thailand’s Yuttapong Tongdee (15-0, 9 KOs).

Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) began his quest for all four belts in December 2022, when he stopped Paul Butler to unify the bantamweight titles. In just over a year, the 31-year-old added to his legacy with a knockout victory over WBC/WBO champion Stephen Fulton in July 2023, followed by a win over WBA/IBF champion Marlon Tapales that December, claiming undisputed glory in a second weight class. He made history again in May by headlining the first boxing event at the Tokyo Dome since the iconic Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas fight, overcoming a first-round knockdown before stopping former two-division world champion Luis Nery in six rounds. In September, he secured a seventh-round TKO over former junior featherweight champion TJ Doheny.

Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs), a 26-year-old from Australia, began his professional career in 2018. He went 4-0 in 2023, earning points victories over Doheny, as well as the previously unbeaten talents Ra’eese Aleem and Zhong Liu. Goodman also scored a fourth-round TKO win over Mark Schleibs in March and outpointed the previously undefeated Thachtana Luangphon in a 12-round battle in July.