Sam Goodman won the interim IBF super bantamweight title Sunday, beating Ryosuke Nishida by unanimous decision over 12 rounds at Toyota Arena Tokyo.
The judges scored the fight 116–109, 115–110 and 114–111 for the Australian. Goodman improved to 23–1 with eight knockouts, while Nishida’s record dropped to 11–2.
Goodman, 27, from Albion Park in New South Wales, repeatedly moved inside the taller southpaw’s reach. He worked to the body and threw uppercuts at close range, while Nishida answered with left hands and body punches.
Both fighters were cut during the contest. Goodman suffered a cut on his forehead in the third round but completed the full distance, continuing to exchange with the former bantamweight champion.
The referee deducted a point from each boxer during the eighth round. Goodman was penalized for a head butt, and Nishida lost a point for a low blow shortly afterward. Nishida received another deduction for a low blow in the 10th.
Those penalties were reflected in the three official cards. Goodman won by margins of seven, five and three points, with every judge awarding him the decision despite the deductions affecting the scoring.
The championship is an interim title at 122 pounds. Naoya Inoue remains the division’s full IBF champion and undisputed champion; Goodman’s victory did not transfer those championships to him.
Goodman had previously been scheduled to challenge Inoue, but cuts sustained in sparring disrupted those plans. He later moved to featherweight and lost a decision to Nick Ball before returning to super bantamweight.
His only professional defeat came in that featherweight title challenge. Nishida entered Sunday’s contest as a former IBF champion at bantamweight, having lost that belt to Junto Nakatani in 2025.
“We ain’t stopping here, I want all the names,” Goodman said after the fight, according to the Australian Associated Press.
Goodman’s victory came on the same card as Takuma Inoue’s successful WBC bantamweight title defense against Tenshin Nasukawa. No next opponent or fight date for Goodman was announced in the reports of Sunday’s result.
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This page is an original Sporting Page summary. The reporting remains with Australian Associated Press.
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