His dreams of a Las Vegas debut are on hold for now, but Sam Goodman knows what waits on the other side of a win over former IBF world champion TJ Doheny.
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The Wollongong world title hope was set to make his maiden international appearance as a pro on the undercard to promotional stablemate Tim Tszyu's planned showdown with undisputed junior-middleweight champion Jermell Charlo in the US in January.
A broken hand suffered by Charlo has put that bout on hold, with Tsyzu returning to Sydney for a WBO world-title scrap with veteran American Tony Harrison on March 12.
Goodman will defend his WBO Oriental and IBF Inter-continental super-bantamweight straps against former IBF titleist Doheny on the undercard.
After admittedly thinking it was a pisstake when he heard Tszyu's bout, and by extension his own, was off, the 24-year-old is now relishing a world-level challenge on home soil.
"We found out Christmas morning," Goodman said.
'We were scrolling through Instagram and my brother-in-law said 'Charlo's broken his hand' and I thought he was taking the piss.
"Then the phone calls started coming in. You're gutted obviously, but I went straight to 'what's next?' We knew Tim was looking for a fight and we knew we'd be on his undercard.
"TJ's named popped up and it's a fight I've always thought could happen. He's a really good opponent, he's been at the highest level, he's been a world champion, so he's always been on the radar.
"It's not like he was a [world] champion 10 years ago, it was pretty recent. He's definitely still a world class fighter.
"He's only lost to the best of the best and I'm stoked to get an opponent of that calibre. It's a good chance to show the level I'm at and it's a great test for me."
Two of Doheny's three losses have come in world title bouts, with the rugged southpaw having claimed and subsequently defended the IBF super-bantamweight crown in 2018-19.
With three defeats in his past five bouts - albeit all at world level - the bout shapes as the Irish southpaw's last realistic push at a world title return. Goodman knows what is at stake for both.
"I'm very confident going into the fight, I'm absolutely sure I'm going to do a job on him, but he's a great fighter and I'm expecting a great fighter turn up on the night," Goodman said.
"He's going to be all-in for this fight, he doesn't have too many rolls of the dice after this. He's not getting any younger and I'm very high up in the rankings, so he's probably thinking, with a win over me, he gets another shot.
"He'll be putting in a big camp for this fight but I'm not really concerning myself with his path. I know the path I'm on and I'm very confident I'll be able to take him apart."
Should Tsyzu get the job done against Harrison, promotors No Limit Boxing will again be looking to Vegas, but it's not occupying Goodman's thoughts just yet.
"I'm not even entertaining that at the moment," Goodman said.
"It's obviously the plan but I'm not looking past TJ. It's a world level challenge, this one, and you overlook guys like this and you'll fall short.
"It's not just up to me for the Vegas thing to happen. I've got to get my job done and obviously Tim's got to get his job done as well
"If everything goes to plan, it'll happen, but I'm just worried about the job I've got in front of me on March 12."
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
