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Each week, Steve Wellings — a man with over 20 years' experience covering boxing for various publications and current online editor of Boxing News — will be drilling down on some of the boxing world's biggest topics via our new column, Inside the Ropes.
Taglined as one of the most destructive finishers in boxing and a pound-for-pound superstar, Naoya Inoue turns heads both in and out of the ring. Such is the punching power and prodigious prowess of the unified super-bantamweight king, some believe that moving up in weight is a greater threat to his dominance than any physical opponent.
Australia’s Sam Goodman begs to differ. The deserving mandatory challenger travels to Koto City on December 24 to tackle ‘The Monster’. While many feel he is merely another sacrificial lamb being dragged kicking and bleating to the block, Goodman, unbeaten in 19-0 contests, holds confidence bordering on insanity that he will pull off a Christmas miracle.
Even though some view the Goodman assignment as a keep-busy fight at best or a nuisance mandatory at worst, the Aussie has earned his shot. Despite the champion’s fierce reputation, Goodman has displayed an unshakeable belief since the announcement, claiming that he is the man to finally dethrone Inoue.
Inoue’s strong activity levels mean that worthwhile challengers will inevitably become thin on the ground. If he manages to send Goodman packing, then former unified king Murodjon ‘MJ’ Akhmadaliev will wait for his shot courtesy of the WBA route. Then, another Japanese destroyer, Junto Nakatani, is expected to haul his sizeable frame up from bantamweight for an epic battle of the rising sons.
Over the past weekend, Top Rank head honcho and co-promoter of Inoue, Bob Arum, hinted that his man could face Alan David Picasso in Las Vegas next spring. 24-year-old Mexican Picasso is 30-0-1 as a pro with 16 knockouts, so he fits the bill in a promotional sense. However, he is barely a household name in his own household and it would be a tricky sell even for a cagey old custodian like Bob.
All of this will be null and void if Inoue does not breeze past Goodman, who looked a little wobbly in the past but has earned his right to fight by beating fellow unbeaten contenders, a former world champion, all while cementing his spot at the top of the tree with two sanctioning bodies at 122 pounds.
When the dust settles, it is likely to be a case of the old Yuletide tagline ‘Season’s Beatings’ for Sam unless he can pull something out of the sack. A jackhammer should do the trick.
Last weekend, in Phoenix, Arizona, former WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez was attempting to get his old title back from Rafael Espinoza. The Mexican belt holder is incredibly tall at the weight and an imposing physical specimen to overcome.
However, for the first three and a half rounds, Cuba’s Ramirez seemed to have solved the stylistic puzzle. Then Espinoza’s engine got going. Closing the gap in the ring, suddenly, Ramirez’s eye started closing a little with it. Espinoza’s errant elbows were to blame, although, by round five, we still didn’t know that.
Round six was when everything fell apart. A seemingly innocuous right hand landed on Robeisy’s eye and he turned his back, raised an arm and signalled to everyone present and at home that he was no longer taking part.
Not as seismic as the ‘No Mas’ of 1980 when Roberto Duran coined that term by bailing out of a Sugar Ray Leonard masterclass, but not a good look either. Prizefighters are supposed to be bigger and better than us mere mortals. Ramirez said to the interviewer post-fight that he felt his overall health was in danger and the news was later revealed that he had fractured an orbital bone.
The decision, therefore, seemed, on the face of it, to be fair enough. But the optics (pun intended) of such a decision are not good in the most brutal of arenas. For every fighter who reached a health crisis crossroads, there is a pantheon of legends remembered for putting their eyes, bodies and very existence on the line in order to create an unforgettable legacy. Robeisy declined that choice and history will judge him harshly.
Slim pickings this weekend as many of the fight favourites weigh heavy against unknown or overmatched opposition. Lauren Price is defending her WBA welterweight title and is not a noted puncher. Her opponent Bexcy Mateus is a puncher on paper, but all of her work has been done in Bogota, Colombia, so she could bring anything to the table. Price is 10/3 to win by TKO or KO if the visitor is as dire as some suggest.
There is a real battle to be had over in California as former world-level aspirant Alexis Rocha (21/20) will be keen to make a statement and push back to world-class when he faces Raul Curiel (10/11).
In October 2023, Rocha took an eliminator versus Giovani Santillan and was stopped heavily in round six. On Saturday night, Curiel is untested but has knocked out 13 of his 15 victims. If he catches Rocha flush, then anything could happen. Curiel is 9/4 to force the stoppage by any means.
All odds are correct on Oddschecker as of 11/12/24.
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