Sam Goodman kept his guaranteed shot at Naoya Inoue intact, but didn’t come away unscathed in his decision victory over Chainoi Worawut.
In what was reportedly a gutsy scrap, Goodman (19-0, 8 KO) survived a spirited effort from the game Worawut (25-1-1, 15 KO) before taking over down the stretch with his superior craft. After the fight, however, Goodman revealed that he’d broken his left hand sometime in the early going, which could put the kibosh on his planned December showdown with “The Monster.”
If I had a nickel for every Aussie standout who (potentially) missed out on a career-defining opportunity because of a hand injury in a gimme fight over the last few years, I’d have two nickels.
In other noteworthy action, Liam Wilson (14-3, 8 KO) was his usual gunslinging self in his lightweight debut against Youssef Dib (21-2, 11 KO), ultimately hammering Dib unconscious with a violent eighth-round flurry.