Unbeaten Sam Goodman had been on course to face The Ring and undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue in December before a cut in sparring saw the fight postponed for a month. However, in the interim, the cut reopened and the Australian lost his chance.

Goodman, rated at No. 4 by The Ring at 122 pounds, admits it's been disappointing not get the opportunity he worked so hard to get.

"It's been one of the toughest things I've ever had to go through. It's no secret, he's a massive fight and it's a significantly different paycheck than anything I would have been receiving," Goodman (19-0, 8 knockouts) told The Ring. "It's thrown me into some financial woes since missing out on that fight.

"I haven't been able to fight for almost a year now. You don't have that money coming in from fighting. I'm not out there working another job. I bought a house that's been a struggle to pay for. I've had to lean on a couple of sponsors; it's been tough times. There is no other options, there is no Plan B, it's this or bust."

After breaking his hand in his last fight against Chainoi Worawut in July and the postponement and eventual cancelation of his fight with Inoue, Goodman has had a 10-month absence from fighting.

"I basically went through two training camps. I spent thousands and thousands of dollars on that camp," he said. "Bringing people in from overseas and from all across Australia for sparring, I was really invested in that camp to give myself the best opportunity to beat a guy like that and then the cuts happened.

"I was low for a couple of days, but you've got to pick yourself up. You can't stay low for too long, you've got to work out what's next and for me it was spending awhile off sparring and off contact work but constantly drilling and doing a lot of conditioning stuff and keeping fit and preparing for whenever I could. I spent a long time without any contact. I picked up sparring a bit later in this camp, but I'm ready now. It's held up. We're good to go."

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and Goodman is glad to be returning when he faces once-beaten Cesar Vaca at Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, on Wednesday.

"I'm super grateful to be getting back to my job and doing what I do," he said. "He's a pretty well-rounded guy, he's definitely got some skills, he's got a bit of that traditional Mexican style, he can rip in and have a tear up but he's also got some good shots at range. For me, it's about going through my processes and taking a few of the things he does well early on."

The 26-year-old knows the importance of getting the win after extended time off.

"I'm just about getting in there and getting some momentum back in my career," he said. "I'm not worried about any external things surrounding the fight. It's about stamping my position where I belong as the No. 1 in the division and putting myself back out there for a title shot and just winning. I'm fully focused on winning that's all that matters and whatever it takes to win. The rest will sort itself out. Win at all costs."

Then his attention will return to the Japanese superstar in the hope of a title opportunity, though isn't sure where he is in the rotation at this point.

"That's up to my team, I don't focus on all the [expletive]" he said. "Boxing is like the weather, it changes and you hear a different story every week. I tend to not read or watch that much these days.

"We're going to keep pushing our mandatory position then what the IBF do with that, we have to wait and see. First and foremost, I have to get through this week and this guy I have in front of me. That's the most important thing. Once I do that, it's up to my team to push my position forward and chase that title shot for me. They've got to deal with the politics, my job's to train and that's what I'll be doing and where my focus is."

Vaca (19-1-1, 12 KOs) made his debut in February 2018. He won 16 of his first 17 fights, the lone blemish was a draw.

The 23-year-old Mexican lost for the first time against Erik Robles (UD 10). He has returned with three wins, notably taking Luis Rodriguez's unbeaten record (MD 10) and besting former flyweight world title challenger Joel Cordova (UD 10) in February.