Sam Goodman had his shot against the undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue slip through his hands twice – once with a postponement and the other time with a cancellation due to a problematic eye.

Goodman was supposed to fight Inoue on Dec. 24 in Japan as 'The Monster’s' IBF mandatory challenger. However, on Dec. 13, the Australian suffered a gash above his left eyelid on the final day of sparring. The fight was rescheduled to Jan. 24, but two weeks before, Goodman was forced to withdraw from the fight because his eye needed plastic surgery.

Instead, Ye Joon Kim stepped in for Goodman and was knocked out in four rounds.

Goodman (20-0, 8 KOs) returned last week and scored a 10-round unanimous decision win against Cesar Vaca Espinoza (19-2-1, 12 KOs) at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney.

After the fight, the snakebitten 26-year-old from Albion Park, New South Wales, opened up about how the ordeal has impacted his life.

“I've gone through some [expletive] the last six months,” Goodman told reporters. “I was flat out [expletive] broke. It has been [expletive] hell. I'm out the other side now, but not completely. It's a start.

“I want to push for my shot at Inoue. I want my chance. I'm not saying he's dodging. I know what happened to me. It was terrible. It financially crippled me and it put a massive stress on me and my family.”

The Inoue ship has sailed for Goodman for at least the next year.

Inoue returned earlier this month and recovered from a knockdown to knock out Ramon Cardenas.

The Ring’s No. 2-ranked pound-for-pound fighter has a slate of matchups mapped out for him through next May against Murodjon Akhmadaliev, Nick Ball, and Junto Nakatani to go along with a long-planned move to 126 pounds.