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It is possible that the undefeated Sam Goodman will be next in line to derail “Monster,” says Naoya Inoue. As fans who watched last night's thrilling fight between Naoya and Louis Nery saw, Goodman was right in Tokyo for his next date with the undisputed 122-pound king. Bob Arum suggested that the fight could take place in September or October.
And like many of Inoue's previous challengers, Goodman, now 18-0 and the IBF's mandatory super bantamweight contender, feels he has what it takes to beat him. Goodman, in an interview with Fox Sports Australia, said he had “seen enough” to feel confident and even certain of beating the Japanese superstar, who is now 27-0(24).
Did Inoue's career-first knockdown against Nery give Goodman extra confidence, as it probably would have for many fighters who saw that, yes, Inoue IS a man? Goodman says Inoue's knockdown showed that “anyone can beat anyone at any time.” And Goodman, who doesn't look like much of a puncher based on his record with eight knockout wins, says he can use boxing to beat Inoue.
“Look, I've seen enough in the fight to know that I can do what I need to do to win this fight,” Goodman said. “This is a huge opportunity for me. This is something very exciting, and I've been saying this for a long time: I want world titles. He has everything and I will have to fight him. I have to box as hard as I can, but I believe that if I do that, I can beat this man. At any moment, anyone can defeat anyone. I saw a lot of things there that proved that I could really push him, not just push him, but beat him.”
Then again, Goodman isn't the first fighter to feel this way about Inoue's challenge, and he won't be the last. Fighters, of course, have to believe they can win, but does Goodman really have the necessary tools to handle a loss to Inoue? That knockdown scored by Nery really caused a huge sensation, and again, it gave a lot of fighters extra faith that they could stop Inoue if they landed the right punch. But just how collected, calm and professional was Inoue as he counted down, fully composed himself, and then stood up and went straight back to work? If anything, the way Inoue reacted to the massive blow to the head showed us all how difficult it would be to defeat him. Always.
Inoue is not only the best fighter on the planet right now, but also the most exciting pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
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