Jeff Fenech delivered a fight-day pep talk to Sam Goodman as the Wollongong boxer fights for a world title in Japan NOW. Live updates below!
Goodman faces Ryosuke Nishida in Tokyo for the interim IBF super bantamweight belt, with the chance to finally claim the prize he has pursued through injuries, setbacks and a heartbreaking defeat to Nick Ball.
Goodman v Nishida | Sunday September 27 from 6pm AEST | Sam Goodman takes on Japan’s Ryosuke Nishida for the interim IBF super bantamweight world title live from Tokyo on Fox Sports & Kayo Sports | Included in your subscription. STREAM HERE
Follow Sam Goodman’s world title fight vs Ryosuke Nishida and more live below!
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His manager, Peter Mitrevski, told Fox Sports Australia the four-time world champion had spoken to Goodman on Sunday morning.
“Sam is ready. He got a real good inspirational pep talk from the great Jeff Fenech this morning, who told him, ‘Fight your fight and you will join me in becoming a world champion’,” Mitrevski said.
It is a simple message for one of the biggest nights of Goodman’s life. He is fighting a former world champ in Nishida, in front of the Japanese boxer’s home crowd, with a belt at stake.
Aussie boxing legend Danny Green believes “The Ghost” has what it takes to handle the occasion.
“Sam Goodman is a world-class fighter and takes great self-belief into his fights,” Green told Fox Sports Australia.
“He has every capability to become world champion. He ticks all the boxes and is a real tiger – and it is that self-belief that is what is needed tonight.”
Goodman’s path to a world title has been particularly cruel.
He was due to challenge Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue in December 2024, only for a cut suffered in sparring to push the fight back a month.
When the cut reopened in training, Goodman had to withdraw from the rescheduled bout as well. Twice, the biggest fight of his life disappeared before he could get into the ring.
He eventually got his title shot against Nick Ball at featherweight last year, but lost a unanimous decision, with two wide scorecards doing little justice to how competitive the fight was.
Now back at super bantamweight, he has another chance to leave Japan with a belt – though Goodman said earlier this week he was trying not to get caught up in where the fight was taking place.
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“I’m not really thinking about where the fight is,” he told Fox Sports Australia.
“I’m thinking of what I get at the end of this fight, and after I get the victory and become a world champion. That’s something I’ve worked my whole life for.”
There is Aussie boxing history within reach, too. In 1968, Lionel Rose travelled to Tokyo and beat local hero Fighting Harada to win the world bantamweight title – one of the country’s great victories on foreign soil.
Johnny Famechon later returned to Japan as featherweight champ and successfully defended his title against Harada in Tokyo in 1970.
More recently, Andrew Moloney claimed the IBF super flyweight title in Japan, beating Mexico’s Willibaldo Garcia by majority decision in June.
FULL FIGHT CARD
Live from Toyota Arena in Tokyo, Japan
WBC bantamweight championship: Takuma Inoue vs Tenshin Nasukawa — 12 rounds
IBF interim super bantamweight championship: Ryosuke Nishida vs Sam Goodman — 12 rounds
WBC super flyweight championship: Tomoya Tsuboi vs Ricardo Malajika — 12 rounds
WBO interim strawweight championship: Ryusei Matsumoto vs Russell Acosta — 12 rounds
Featherweight: Hayato Aiko vs Natsuki Kuramochi — 4 rounds