Sam Goodman breaks hand but wins to stay on track for Naoya Inoue

Sam Goodman improved to 19-0 (8 KOs) with a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Thailand’s Thactana “Rock man” Worawut, who lost for the first time and is now 25-1-1 (15 KOs).

The junior-featherweight contender won via margins of 117-111, 117-113 and 119-109, but his manager Pete Mitrevski said after the fight that the Australian had broken his left hand in the sixth round.

What that means for a proposed fight with Japanese icon Naoya Inoue remains to be seen. Inoue is likely to fight again beforehand anyway – possibly against TJ Doheny – before facing Goodman, his mandatory challenger.

Goodman’s latest was a good fight. Possibly a little more taxing than he had planned, but it certainly made for an entertaining spectacle.

There were indications that the tough visitor from Bangkok was ready for a fight in the opening exchanges, when he was made to miss with some hefty looking swings. Goodman adopted a sophisticated approach, maintaining the distance between them and trying to dictate with his jab.

Goodman’s boxing was more conventional, but he was nailed be a swinging hook in the second, before catching Worawut at the end of a long right hand with a minute left in the session in reply.

After the third, Worawut danced and played to the crowd, and while he was having some success downstairs, he was finding Goodman difficult to hit cleanly. There were some fast and fluid exchanges in the fourth, and again Worawut danced at its conclusion, but the better work had come from the Australian, who landed jabs, worked the body, and tucked up well when the return attacks came his way.

The fifth was a good round for the favorite. Goodman caught Worawut on the end of jabs and right hands and, with the exception of an eye-catching right uppercut, he was increasingly taking control and there existed signs that Worawut was slowing.

Goodman seemed to completely have the measure of Worawut in round six, and was countering so effectively that Worawut became gun-shy. The Thai became reluctant to throw; Goodman then went on the attack, trying to force more mistakes.

Worawut was still playing to the crowd after each round, but there was less enthusiasm behind his theatrics, and the signs were that Goodman was building a commanding lead.

The visitor did, however, find another gear in the eighth, when they slogged away on even terms. The ninth was unrelenting and fought at particularly close range, although the action was paused for the tape to be fastened around Worawut’s glove.

Goodman tried to get back behind his jab in the tenth, but Worawut was content to walk him down, and Goodman initiated a clinch for the first time. Worawut spent part of the round as a southpaw, too, when launching a series of overhand lefts. 

Goodman landed four straight shots in the 11th but could not put a dent in Worawut, who took several clean blows without hinting at retreating.

A left hook from Goodman earned a respectful nod from the Thai in the 12th, and the Aussie used cute defensive moves to stay either out of the way or roll with the shots that came in his direction as they battled through the last round of a highly watchable and brisk contest

The heavyweight hope Curtis Scott, aged 26, and by then come out firing and had  Burce Hall looking disorganized from the start of their contest. The former Australian Rules football star, who was once beaten in a round by Sonny Bill Williams, was down first from what was ruled a slip but struggled with Scott’s hand speed, became tentative to throw his own jab, and was repeatedly caught and felled twice in quick succession before he slowly made his way back to his feet.

Bleeding from a cut on the bridge of his nose, the 47-year-old Hall failed to beat the count, and the fight was waved off after 86 seconds. The 6ft 4 1/2in Hall is now 0-2-1. Sydney’s Scott improves to 3-0 (3 KOs).