Goodman had twice been scheduled to face junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue, only for cuts to prevent those bouts. This matchup with Nick Ball is the next-best thing. "My world opens up so much more winning this fight," he said.

People refuse to accept what they don’t understand, and despite a long, impressive run of form and his no-holds-barred style of fighting the 28-year-old Liverpudlian receives a fraction of the attention or acclaim of other less accomplished fighters.

Immediately after Usyk's masterclass at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night, Turki Alalshikh, the head of Riyadh Season chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, declared that Usyk-Itauma is the fight to make at heavyweight.

Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington wanted to fight Nick Ball next more than any of boxing’s featherweight champions. The feeling wasn’t mutual. What bothered Carrington more than that was that Ball instead agreed to defend his WBA 126-pound championship against Australia’s Sam Goodman.

Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) is just 20 years old as he advances toward a title shot next year. The Slovakia native stopped Mike Balogun in two rounds last month. His litmus test will come against Whyte, 37, in an all-British clash.

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.

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 No. 4 by The Ring at junior featherweight, had been due to face Inoue in December before a cut eye curtailed those plans. The fight was postponed by a month, but the wound reopened and the opportunity slipped away.

Naoya Inoue’s predictable pummeling of Yee Joon Kim on Friday wasn’t necessarily Inoue’s fault. Yes, we’re looking at you, Sam Goodman. Inoue’s limited culpability notwithstanding, the Japanese superstar was a 50-1 favorite over the South Korean contender for good reason. Seoul’s Kim (21-3-2, 13 KOs), who was knocked out in the fourth round at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, lost an eight-round majority decision three fights before he challenged Inoue for his Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 122-pound championships to Rob Diezel. Seattle’s Diezel was 14-9 when he upset Kim in April 2023.

Sam Goodman will have to prove he is fit to fight if he wants to maintain his top ranking with at least one sanctioning body.