Earlier today news broke from Japan that the scheduled Christmas Eve show at the Ariake Arena had been postponed, though originally details of what would happen were unclear. Now however everything has been confirmed, including the reason for the postponement, and what will happen to the bouts originally scheduled for December 24th.
The show, headlined by Undisputed Super Bantamweight champion
Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25) defending his titles against unbeaten Australian challenger Sam Goodman (19-0, 8) has been postponed after Goodman suffered an injury in sparring. Bizarrely the injury, above his right eye, was suffered in a public sparring session, less than 2 weeks from the bout.As a result of the injury the entire show has been pushed 1 month, with all 6 bouts still scheduled for it, including the WBO Bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei (10-0, 8) [武居由樹] defending his title against unbeaten Thai challenger Yuttapong Tongdee (15-0, 9), and the regional title bout between the enigmatic Jin Sasaki (18-1-1, 17) [佐々木尽] and the teak tough Shoki Sakai (29-14-3, 15) [坂井祥紀].For fans with tickets they will still be able to attend the show on January 24th with their existing tickets. As for those who want a refund, it really depends on how the tickets were purchased, though most of those selling tickets will be in touch with those that purchased them, if not please reach out to the company you bought them from and ask about their refund process.It’s a huge shame to see the planned 3 bouts in 2024 fall through for Inoue, especially given it was only just over a week away, but thankfully the delay isn’t a long one, and there’s no reason he couldn’t fit in the planned 3 bouts in 2025.
