Breaking down the upcoming big fights with a Hall of Fame matchmaker

If I only had $20 for every time a boxing trainer, manager or figure would end their endorsement of a fighter with the back-up caveat, “Ask Brad Goodman what he thinks …”

The International Boxing Hall of Fame matchmaker employed by Bob Arum’s Top Rank is indeed a shrewdly wise eye of talent – and hype.

So as the boxing schedule and calendar turns to the fall months, it seems Goodman would be the ideal expert to check in with as we head to a global frenzy of pugilistic activity that will take us from another date with Naoya Inoue in Japan on September 3 to the unified heavyweight championship rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia on December 21.

September 3: Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) vs TJ Doheny (26-4, 20 KOs) for Inoue’s undisputed super-bantamweight championship, Tokyo: “Listen, Doheny’s going to try, but he’s just completely outgunned. Inoue is one of those guys that’s on another level. One of the best out there. I’d say top two or three in the world.”

Goodman said he’s heard Inoue wants to defend his 122lbs title “one or two more times” – perhaps in an all-Japan showdown against bantamweight and three-division champion Junto Nakatani, who headlines an October 14 card that features seven title fights in Tokyo.

“It’s very, very possible,” Goodman said. “Nakatani wants that fight so bad and has so much confidence, and when you have that, it makes you a dangerous fighter. I wouldn’t favor [Nakatani], but it’s very competitive.”

September 14: Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) vs Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs), for the WBC, WBO, and WBA super-middleweight belts, Las Vegas.

As a staggering -1600 betting favorite, Alvarez is expected to flex his superior talent and experience on the confident Brooklyn fighter touting his Puerto Rican familial roots.

“Everybody, obviously, thinks it’s a complete mismatch,” Goodman said. “I’m in the minority. Here’s a kid in Edgar who I know very well; I’ve done a bunch of his fights. I really believe in his last two fights since he’s brought back his former trainer Marc Farrait that he’s a different fighter with a ton of confidence.

“If he goes in there believing he can win this fight and shows Canelo no respect, I think it’s going to be a much, much more competitive fight than what people think. I know [Berlanga] well. He’s on another level with [Farrait] – sort of like what Anthony Joshua has been with [new trainer] Ben Davison.

“These guys did something where the guys are fighting differently. Berlanga just can’t be hesitant with Canelo. He’s got to go out there and get that respect real early. Canelo’s not a quick starter. He feels you out the first two or three rounds. So if Berlanga’s in there and he believes this is a winnable fight for him, he’s going to be a tough out.”

A good bet?

“I’m not a betting man, but the odds are real big and he’s a live dog,” Goodman said.

September 20: Jaime Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) vs Erik Bazinyan (32-0-1, 23 KOs), super-middleweight, Glendale, Arizona: Munguia returns from his entertaining Cinco de Mayo weekend scrap against then-undisputed champion Alvarez by taking this Top Rank-promoted bout that could lead him in victory to a showdown with unbeaten number-one WBC contender Christian Mbilli. 

“It’s a good, solid fight against an undefeated guy from Canada with a ton of amateur experience,” Goodman said. “But I feel like Munguia is on such a high right now – even though he lost to Canelo. That confidence is on such a level that’ll carry him through in the fight.

“They want to do Mbilli. We could make it. But first things first on September 20.”

September 21: Anthony Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) vs Daniel Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs), for Dubois’ IBF heavyweight title, Wembley Stadium, London: Goodman professes that Joshua’s alliance with his trainer Ben Davison has led to a stunning transformation that has perhaps made the Brit the “world’s best heavyweight”.

“Whereas, at one point, I wouldn’t give him any shot to beat a guy like Tyson Fury,” Goodman said.

“The Dubois fight would’ve been a tough fight a couple fights ago, but with Ben Davison in his corner now, his confidence is sky high and he really believes in himself. I like Anthony in the fight. He’s the best heavyweight out there.” 

October 12: Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) vs Dmitry Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) for the undisputed light-heavyweight championship, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: The best fight of the fall, Goodman asserts.

“I can’t even pick a winner,” Goodman said. “That’s a true 50-50 fight. Beterbiev, he shocks me every time out. I really thought guys like Callum Smith and Anthony Yarde would give him something. To my surprise, he just went out there and dominated. I was more surprised at how he completely handled Callum Smith, who I have a ton of respect for.”

Can Beterbiev, at 39 and coming off a ruptured knee ligaments injury, repeat that type of treatment on Bivol, who’s six years younger and out-boxed Alvarez two years ago?

“Father Time is calling [Beterbiev], and you never know when he’ll arrive,” Goodman said. “Bivol is on another level, as well. He’s an exceptional fighter who can do everything – box; punch; better overall fighter. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to win the fight. Beterbiev does certain things, where he makes guys change. To me, it’s a 50-50 fight.”

I asked Goodman, “Gun to your head, who’s winning?”

“I think I would still say I don’t know. That’s how hard it is to pick,” Goodman said. “I would say if I have to make a pick, I’ll say Bivol. I lean to the better overall fighter, even though Beterbiev is definitely the bigger puncher in the fight. But he’s much older.”

October 19: Baskhram Murtazaliev (22-0, 16 KOs) vs Tim Tszyu (24-1, 17 KOs) for Murtazaliev’s IBF junior-middleweight championship, Orlando, Florida: In the first Amazon Prime Video “free” fight broadcast, Australia’s Tszyu seeks to recapture a 154lbs belt after losing his WBO version in that bloody March 30 saga in Las Vegas with Sebastian Fundora.

“I would definitely lean toward Tszyu,” Goodman said. “I gained so much respect for him after the fight with Fundora, when [Tszyu] faced that adversity [a grisly second-round cut] early in the fight, when he easily could’ve got of there with a no-contest against Fundora. He showed me so much heart. Class individual, even in defeat. I have a ton of respect for him.”

Russia’s Murtazaliev also has proven himself – enduring a long wait as a mandatory challenger before venturing to Germany to defeat native Jack Culcay by 11th-round stoppage.

“I just believe Tszyu wins the fight – maybe by decision,” Goodman said.

DATE TBA: Arnold Barboza Jr (30-0, 11 KOs) vs Jose Ramirez (29-1, 18 KOs), junior-welterweight: The fighters are said to be finalizing negotiations this week for a fall bout. Ramirez is the former unified 140lbs champion and Southern California’s Barboza is a top-ranked contender.

Both fighters struggled in their prior bouts, with Ramirez absorbing heavy punches from former champion Rances Barthelemy and Barboza receiving a highly criticized victory by decision over Sean McComb.

“Two of my buddies – personally, I know them very well,” Goodman said of the former Top Rank combatants now fighting under the Golden Boy Promotions banner. “I know it’s a fight Arnold has always wanted from the time he was with us. Jose doesn’t turn down anybody. It’s a great fight I’m just going to enjoy without making a prediction. We did their whole careers.

“Both guys didn’t look that good in their last fights. That also had to do with their opponents.”

December 21: Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) vs Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) II, WBC, WBO, and WBA heavyweight championship, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Fury had the opportunity to win the first fight before getting decked in the ninth round when Usyk stormed back from a scorecards’ deficit to win a split decision in May.

“[Fury] just let it go,” Goodman said. “He was really starting to take control of the fight. Then he started to box him; got real cocky; taunting him. That’s what really cost him. If he just fights from rounds one through 12, takes it right to Usyk and uses his physicality, he can win the fight. But you just don’t know.

“Usyk takes everything so seriously and Tyson seems to, at times, do things half-assed. You don’t do that when you have a guy like Usyk in front of you.”

Goodman maintains Fury can respond by winning the rematch.

“He’s going to change certain things and win a decision in a close fight,” Goodman said.

That would throw everything back into chaos. Should Fury stage a trilogy fight with Usyk, or turn to the long-awaited showdown against Joshua, should he defeat Dubois?

“Fury-Joshua is the fight to make,” Goodman said.