Ryosuke Nishida vs Sam Goodman Preview September 27th, 2026
The vacant IBF Interim Junior Featherweight Title is the prize for former IBF Bantamweight Champion Ryosuke Nishida of Japan and Sam Goodman of Australia this Sunday, September 27th. The pair meet in a 12-rounder in Tokyo, Japan which can be seen live on DAZN in most nations. However fans in Japan will need to tune into Amazon Prime Video for the fight. The card gets underway at 4am ET. Nishida last fought in February when he beat Bryan Mercado Vazquez via a seven-round technical decision. The fight was stopped after Nishida was cut from a clash of heads and was ahead 69-64 on all scorecards. Nishida captured his IBF Bantamweight Crown in May, 2024 when he beat Emmanuel Rodriguez by unanimous decision. He then defended it against Anuchai Donsua by seventh-round KO but lost his belt when Junto Nakatani stopped him after six rounds in an IBF/WBC Bantamweight unification bout. That contest was stopped due to severe swelling over Nishida’s right eye. Goodman last saw action in April when he beat Rodrigo Fabian Ruiz by a 12-round unanimous decision.
Nishida vs Goodman Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Sam Goodman +167
- Ryosuke Nishida -220
My Pick
The 30-year-old Nishida is a southpaw who climbs through the ropes with a mark of 11-1 with just 2 Ko’s. He certainly lacks serious power as just 18.2 per cent of his victories have come by stoppage. His first knockout came in his pro debut in 2019 when he halted Sakol Ketkul in the first round. His second KO came three fights ago when he halted Anuchai Donsua in the seventh stanza to defend his IBF Crown. He originally won the Title by beating Emmanuel Rodriguez by unanimous decision in May, 2024.
Nishida began boxing as a teenager and captured a Japanese national high school boxing tournament. He gave up the sport following university though but took it up again in 2019. He hails from Kashiba, Nara, and has wins over former Japanese Bantamweight Champion Shohei Omori and former WBC Flyweight Champion Daigo Higa. He also beat Christian Medina, who is currently the WBO Bantamweight Champion, by comfortable 12-round unanimous decision in 2023.
His 12-round unanimous decision over Higa in 2021 was for the WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight Belt and he defended it against Tetsuro Ohashi, Aljum Pelesio and Songsaeng Phoyaem. He won every round on all scorecards against Pelesio and Phoyaem over 10 and 12 rounds respectively. Nishida measures 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 68-inch reach for a 1.5-inch rech advantage on Goodman as well as half-an-inch in height.
Goodman is 27 years old and makes the ring walk a mark of 22-1 with 8 Ko’s. He’s boxed 181 rounds since turning pro in 2018. As an amateur he reached the semifinals of the 2017 Australian National Championships and 2013 and 2014 Junior Championships. He won the 2017 Oceanian Championships and also fought at the 2016 AIBA Youth World Championships and won the Australian Youth and Junior National Championship in 2016. He stands just over 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 66.5-inch reach.
The Aussie likes to remain busy as he fought four times in 2023. He beat Zhong Liu, Miguel Flores and Ra’eese Aleem by 12-round unanimous decisions and downed TJ Doheny by 10-round unanimous decision. Those contests were in defence of his IBF Inter-Continental Super Bantamweight Title. He fought just twice in 2024 though and his title shot against Naoya Inoue was ultimately cancelled due to eye damage suffered by Goodman in training.
In 2025, Goodman fought another three times and suffered his lone pro defeat when Nick Ball beat him by unanimous decision in a shot at the WBA Featherweight Belt. As far as power goes, Goodman is also below average with 36.4 per cent of his victories coming by stoppage and he’s gone the distance in 11 of his last 13 outings. Since turning pro Goodman has also captured the vacant Australasian Featherweight Title along with the IBF Inter-Continental, and WBO Oriental Super Bantamweight Belts.
He took a step up in class for the first time in 2023 with his unanimous decision over former world champion TJ Doheny. He followed up with the wins over Aleem, Flores and Liu but took a step backwards or sideways against Mark Schleibs and Thachtana Luangphon. Goodman also has victories over Richie Mepranum and Juan Miguel Elorde. However he hasn’t consistently faced top-grade opposition during his career. Nick Ball was his toughest test and he fell just short.
Prediction…
Nishida doesn’t have a lot of pro experience and his winning streak was derailed when Junto Nakatani stopped him. He comes in second best in power in this fight, even though Goodman is a light puncher himself. Nishida has arguably faced stiffer opponents as a pro as has fared quite well. Since Goodman also lacks power this fight has a good chance of going all 12 rounds. Nishida’s fighting at home while Goodman is fighting outside of Australia for just the second time. His last road trip was to Saudi Arabia and that’s where he suffered his lone loss to Nick Ball. Goodman can’t be taken lightly as he possesses good boxing ability and IQ. I’m expecting a close fight and a somewhat controversial decision for Nishida here.
Nishida’s skills should do the trick.
Play: Nishida -220 @ BetOnline.ag
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Ryosuke Nishida betting • Sam Goodman betting