Sam Goodman Beats Thachtana Luangphon To Stay On Track For Naoya Inoue Undisputed Shot
Super-bantamweight contender Sam Goodman claimed a hard-fought points win over Thachtana Luangphon on Wednesday to stay in contention for his shot at undisputed champion Naoya Inoue.
Goodman (19-0-0 8 KO) extended his unbeaten professional record while inflicting a first defeat on Luangphon (25-1-1 15 KO) after being awarded the fight 119-109, 117-113, 117-111 at WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong, Australia.
The victory ensures Goodman retains his mandatory status to face Inoue, who holds all four world titles in the super-bantamweight division. The Australian is the No 1-ranked challenger by the WBO and IBF.
Facing a tough, unbeaten opponent like Luangphon – also known as Chainoi ‘Rock Man’ Worawut – seemed like a massive gamble by Goodman, who had little to gain from facing the Thai fighter, beyond staying active. Win and he would be in the exact same position waiting for his shot at Inoue; lose and his world title hopes would have taken a significant setback.
Ultimately, he did what he needed to do and put on an impressive performance, although it did come at a cost. The Australian suffered what he thinks is a broken hand, sustained as early as the fourth round.
Goodman ‘Wants The Monster’
“We’re in Wollongong; they say the house always wins and this is my f***ing house! He ain’t beating me,” Goodman said in the ring in front of his delighted home crowd.
On his hand, he said: “It was hurting in about round four or six and later in the fight I felt it hurt even more… we’ll go get it scanned but it shouldn’t put me out for too long. I’ll be back in by year’s end for the world title. We want ‘The Monster’ (Inoue). Let’s go!”
Goodman will now surely be fighting Inoue next. The Australian was ringside for the champion’s undisputed title defense against Luis Nery in May and entered the ring following Inoue’s sixth-round victory to challenge ‘The Monster’ to a fight.
Inoue agreed that Goodman would get his shot this year, which will likely be in December. Inoue is expected to return to the ring first in September, with Irish fighter TJ Doheny the probable opponent.
While based only on the scorecards it looked as though Goodman had a comfortable outing against Luangphon, the fight itself was far more competitive.
Luangphon came out guns blazing from the opening bell, looking to land powerful shots and silence the enthusiastic home crowd. The Thai fighter continued to search for openings for his big punches throughout the first few rounds, until Goodman started to settle into the fight.
Luangphon Provides Stern Test
From the third round on, the home fighter started to find his rhythm and range and was happy to trade as Goodman started to find success on the counter.
Luangphon found more success in the fifth round as Goodman was forced to withstand a barrage of powerful shots, yet he started to slow towards the end of the sixth and into the seventh. That gave Goodman the opportunity to turn up the heat as the Australian took control of the mid to late rounds.
In the eighth round, Goodman started to find the target with even more regularity and landed a vicious shot that snapped back Luangphon’s head. The Thai, however, continued to press forward. After eight rounds, both fighters had landed a total of 156 punches, with Luangphon throwing 200 more.
Goodman continued to use his jab and movement in an attempt to evade Luangphon’s power punches, and it worked to good effect during the latter rounds.
Perhaps aware that the fight was slipping away from him, Luangphon switched to southpaw for the 10th round. It was a plan that worked to immediate effect as the Thai landed three unanswered shots. Yet, Goodman responded with three big shots of his own as Luangphon switched his stance back to orthodox.
As the fight entered the final two rounds, Luangphon was visibly tiring, prompting Goodman to up the tempo and finish strong as he won the 11th and 12th with ease to close out an impressive victory.