Naoya Inoue’s planned Christmas Eve defence of his world super-bantamweight titles has been postponed after Australian challenger Sam Goodman suffered an injury in training.
Goodman’s gym announced on Saturday that he had cut his eye while sparring, with reports saying he needed four stitches., external
A new date has been set for Friday, 24 January, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
“I’m sorry to everyone who was looking forward to it,” 31-year-old Inoue wrote on his X account., external.
“We hope you will come again on the new dates. Let’s fight at our best.”
Both fighters have a 100% record, with Japanese champion Inoue claiming 25 of his 28 wins via knockout.
He is putting his IBF, WBC, WBA and WBO belts on the line against 26-year-old Goodman, who has eight knockouts in his 19 victories.
