Sam Goodman’s team have questioned if Chinese rival Zhong Liu has been deliberately keeping fight footage from going public – or even had it wiped — with manager Pete Mitrevski saying: “The guy is like Mr X … you can’t find anything on him”.

The query came during a physical Thursday face off between the fighters, while No Limit CEO George Rose also branded The Ring magazine “absolutely wrong” for having Goodman ranked at No.6 among all super bantamweights.

Rated by Jeff Fenech as Australia’s greatest prospect outside Tim Tszyu, 25-year-old Goodman will risk his No.1 spots with both the IBF and WBO against fellow undefeated fighter Liu at Sydney’s The Star on Friday night.

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With Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue fighting to unify the division against Marlon Tapales on December 26, Goodman has chosen to stay busy against a Chinese rival who is himself undefeated in eight years and 19 appearances.

“Which should make tape easy to come by,” Mitrevski told Fox Sports Australia l.

“But instead, you can’t find anything on him.

“So as for what they’ve done with it all from his fights over there? Who knows?

“But the guy is like Mr X.”

Meanwhile, Rose has also questioned how Goodman could still be ranked sixth in The Ring ratings after a stellar year that has already seen him win three times, including a big upset over American prospect Ra’eese Aleem and a domination against former world champion TJ Doheny.

“But Sam hasn’t got the credibility for all that yet,” Rose said.

“I see where The Ring still has him ranked No.6.

“That’s absolutely wrong.

“And his performances this year prove that is wrong.

“But if they want to stick with that, fine.

“All it’s doing is building a chip on Sam’s shoulder and making him chase this world title even more.

“I’m happy for Sam to get even more hungry off that.”

Both fighters made weight at The Star on Thursday, with Goodman looking in outstanding shape after hitting the scales at 55.24kg.

Liu was 55.18kg.

During an intense face off, the fighters also pushed their heads together, and attempted to push the other backwards, before eventually separating.

Yet while Liu was right in front of him Thursday, Goodman agreed it has been surprisingly difficult to find tape of the rival who has never fought outside his country, but recently entered the WBO rankings at No.14.

Ironically, the undefeated Aussie was supposed to get his first look at the fighter he faces Friday night two years ago — after agreeing to spar the prospect during a proposed trip to China.

Goodman explained how back in 2020, he was going to make the trip in support of fighters from his Central Coast gym, Complete Boxing, who were also competing at the 2020 Olympic trials.

“This was back when Covid was still like a joke here,” Goodman recounted.

“When mates of mine were buying cartons of Corona and taking the piss, saying ‘oh, I’ve got the virus’.

“Nobody thought there was much to it.

“(Laughs) But right after paying for my visas, the very next day, we were told the tournament was off and the trip was over.

“I’d been to China previously and got some really good work in.

“So being an undefeated fighter, and a southpaw, yeah, he was a guy we sought out.

“And even when you look at where he is now, world ranked, has the regional title that I vacated, he has obviously been doing something right.”

But as for knowing exactly what that is?

“Honestly, there’s not a heap of tape on him,” Goodman conceded.

“And even what I have seen is from a while ago.

“So as for knowing what he does well, and what he doesn’t, we only have bits and pieces.

“Which just means that on Friday night, there will have to be some adjusting I do on the fly.

“Make some subtle adjustments on the run.

“But I also know what I do well.

“And I’m good at imposing that on others.

“I’m at a place now where people are dealing with me.”

Asked if he was concerned about what appeared to be plenty of missing footage, Goodman laughed: “Even to get hold of what we have, we’ve had to do some Chinese translations.

“But I’m not too worried.

“I’m not a guy who has to watch heaps of tape, never get fixated on opponents.

“Regardless, I’ve got enough.”