Goodman defeats Worawut, but suffers an injury that could scupper Inoue showdown
Earlier today in Australian fight fans had the chance to see Thai fighter Thattana Luangphon (25-1-1, 15), aka Rock man or Chainoi Worawut, take on unbeaten Australian fighter Sam Goodman (19-0, 8), in a 12 rounder in Wollongong, and put on a great effort in a bout that was much closer than the scorecards suggested.
The bout, which was signed after Goodman seemingly turned down a September bout with Unified Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24) [井上尚弥], was seen by many as a tune up for a potential world title fight for Goodman, but the Aussie got much more than just a simple work out. In fact he may have ended up costing himself a potential December clash with the “Monster”, despite picking up a win.
The fight saw Goodman show some flashy skills at times, but was constantly under-pressure from the Thai, who traveled looking to be the proverbial banana skin for Goodman. The pressure of the Thai, who landed clean an awful lot and would have made Goodman and his fans glad he wasn’t in there with a puncher of Inoue’s quality, made the fight a great one to watch, and gave Goodman more than just a standard work out. Instead of making up the numbers Goodman’s foe brought the fight, made Goodman pay for his lack of power, and forced the action round after round. The saving grace for Goodman however was his more rounded skills, better movement and more accurate punching, which allowed him to score points, despite often finding himself on the back foot.
Things weren’t helped for Goodman by the fact he was forced to fight most of the bout 1-handed, with the Aussie suffering a suspected broken left hand in the first half of the fight, which if confirmed would likely keep him out of the ring until 2025, with the injury alone typically taking 4-8 weeks to recover from before he could even consider sparring and training. Notably he said it hurt as early as round 4, and that he hurt it further later in the bout, perhaps worsening the break, and did seem confident he’d be back by the end of the year, though it clearly awaiting results of a scan on the hand.
Despite the injury Goodman did do enough to impress the judges, with scores of 119-109, 117-113 and 117-111, though the fight seemed much closer than those scores, which all came from Australian judges.
The bout, which was signed after Goodman seemingly turned down a September bout with Unified Super Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24) [井上尚弥], was seen by many as a tune up for a potential world title fight for Goodman, but the Aussie got much more than just a simple work out. In fact he may have ended up costing himself a potential December clash with the “Monster”, despite picking up a win.
The fight saw Goodman show some flashy skills at times, but was constantly under-pressure from the Thai, who traveled looking to be the proverbial banana skin for Goodman. The pressure of the Thai, who landed clean an awful lot and would have made Goodman and his fans glad he wasn’t in there with a puncher of Inoue’s quality, made the fight a great one to watch, and gave Goodman more than just a standard work out. Instead of making up the numbers Goodman’s foe brought the fight, made Goodman pay for his lack of power, and forced the action round after round. The saving grace for Goodman however was his more rounded skills, better movement and more accurate punching, which allowed him to score points, despite often finding himself on the back foot.
Things weren’t helped for Goodman by the fact he was forced to fight most of the bout 1-handed, with the Aussie suffering a suspected broken left hand in the first half of the fight, which if confirmed would likely keep him out of the ring until 2025, with the injury alone typically taking 4-8 weeks to recover from before he could even consider sparring and training. Notably he said it hurt as early as round 4, and that he hurt it further later in the bout, perhaps worsening the break, and did seem confident he’d be back by the end of the year, though it clearly awaiting results of a scan on the hand.
Despite the injury Goodman did do enough to impress the judges, with scores of 119-109, 117-113 and 117-111, though the fight seemed much closer than those scores, which all came from Australian judges.