Naoya Inoue v Sam Goodman Outright Odds: Inoue to take some stopping

Naoya Inoue puts his undisputed super bantamweight titles on the line in January as he takes on unbeaten Australian Sam Goodman.

The fight was initially due to take place on Christmas Eve but has been put back to 24th January, 2025, due to an injury Goodman sustained in training.

Inoue has a perfect record of his own to protect with 28 wins in as many bouts, including 25 stoppages.

Goodman has compiled an impressive 19-0 record with eight early finishes - but this is a huge step up for the man from New South Wales.

Goodman has never fought professionally outside of Australia and this is his first attempt at a world title, and he is facing off against one of the pound-for-pound greats.

Inoue the clear favourite

Inoue is one of only three men to have been undisputed in two divisions in the four-belt era, alongside Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk, and he should be expected to deal with a mandatory challenger fairly easily.

Make no mistake Goodman deserves this shot, but he is moving into uncharted waters here against one of the best active fighters.

Inoue boasts incredible power for a fighter in this weight class and his power shots come from all angles. The Monster has a bodyshot that is particularly devastating and has been the undoing of many an elite fighter over the years, but he can also be effective when going for the head.

Inoue, at 1.062, will be expected to win and to do so via a stoppage against an opponent who is competing at world level for the first time in his career.

Can ‘Mr Mandatory’ pull off an upset?

Goodman has labelled himself ‘Mr Mandatory’ in the build-up to the biggest fight of his career after working his way up the IBF rankings.

The challenger is well aware of his underdog status at 10.00 but it is worth noting that he has beaten three previously unbeaten opponents in his last five fights. In this weight class, all roads lead to Inoue, so this moment if one Goodman has been working towards and he has stressed he is convinced he can end Inoue’s reign as champion.

The Aussie has a great work rate and good movement, and those attributes should stand him in good stead to be competitive against Inoue.

Goodman has to be perfect

Inoue’s last real test came on Boxing Day in 2023 when he was taken into the 10th round by Marlon Tapales.

The 31-year-old struggled to land with his bodyshots due to Tapales’ footwork at stages during that bout, and that is perhaps a tactic Goodman should look to emulate when he faces the Japanese star in Tokyo in a few weeks time.

Ultimately, Inoue, who is 1.16 for a win by KO, TKO or Disqualification, was able to engineer an opportunity but that bout perhaps demonstrated he isn’t invincible, although Goodman will need a career-defining and perfect performance if he is to produce what would be a monumental upset.

Any odds displayed were correct at the time of writing and are subject to fluctuation.