Inoue Vs Goodman expected to in September
Earlier today we saw Unified Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24) [井上尚弥] retain his throne as he came from an opening round knockdown to stop Mexican challenger Luis Nery (35-2, 27) in the 6th round. Following the win Inoue took part in a press conference.
At the press conference Inoue spoke about being dropped, and explained “I couldn't quite read the trajectory of the punch” and explained that it wasn’t a punch that caused any damage and helped him focus on his fight. He added “I tried to calculate the points from the second round.” and explained “I was able to reset my mind”..
Regarding how he felt at the venue, he went on to say “Looking back, I think there was a lot of pressure. I wasn't soaring when I entered the venue, but I guess I was a little buoyant, or something like that”.
It was also made clear that his next bout is penciled in to take place in September, and come against IBF mandatory challenger Sam Goodman (18-0, 8), who joined Inoue in the ring after the Nery bout. Negotiations for that are expected to start shortly, and there has long been rumours of the fight potentially taking place in Australia, with the potential 100,000 seat Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) being a potential venue. Given today’s fight however there is also a very strong chance that Inoue’s team will potentially returning to the Tokyo Dome, knowing that Inoue can fill the Big Egg.
If the bout is in Japan, and in September, it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see a date around the 16th or 22nd, to coincide with either Respect for the Aged Day, which falls on the third Monday of September, or Autumnal Equinox Day, which falls on September 22nd but will be observed on September 23rd.
Interestingly it was explained a few days ago by Akihiko Honda, that Inoue’s earnings this year are likely to be the highest of any Japanese fighter ever, and that today’s payment for Inoue may actually be the biggest single payment to a Japanese fighter, explaining that it likely exceeded the 600,000,000 yen Ryota Murata earned for his bout with Gennadiy Golovkin. Using today’s conversion rate, 600,000,000 is close to $3,900,000 (£3,100,000).
At the press conference Inoue spoke about being dropped, and explained “I couldn't quite read the trajectory of the punch” and explained that it wasn’t a punch that caused any damage and helped him focus on his fight. He added “I tried to calculate the points from the second round.” and explained “I was able to reset my mind”..
Regarding how he felt at the venue, he went on to say “Looking back, I think there was a lot of pressure. I wasn't soaring when I entered the venue, but I guess I was a little buoyant, or something like that”.
It was also made clear that his next bout is penciled in to take place in September, and come against IBF mandatory challenger Sam Goodman (18-0, 8), who joined Inoue in the ring after the Nery bout. Negotiations for that are expected to start shortly, and there has long been rumours of the fight potentially taking place in Australia, with the potential 100,000 seat Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) being a potential venue. Given today’s fight however there is also a very strong chance that Inoue’s team will potentially returning to the Tokyo Dome, knowing that Inoue can fill the Big Egg.
If the bout is in Japan, and in September, it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see a date around the 16th or 22nd, to coincide with either Respect for the Aged Day, which falls on the third Monday of September, or Autumnal Equinox Day, which falls on September 22nd but will be observed on September 23rd.
Interestingly it was explained a few days ago by Akihiko Honda, that Inoue’s earnings this year are likely to be the highest of any Japanese fighter ever, and that today’s payment for Inoue may actually be the biggest single payment to a Japanese fighter, explaining that it likely exceeded the 600,000,000 yen Ryota Murata earned for his bout with Gennadiy Golovkin. Using today’s conversion rate, 600,000,000 is close to $3,900,000 (£3,100,000).