Naoya Inoue’s historic run continues at a breakneck pace.

The sport’s most active RING champion is set to defend his undisputed 122-pound throne versus Australia’s Sam Goodman. Their championship clash will take place on Dec. 24—Christmas Eve—at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The bout was formally announced during a press conference held Thursday in Tokyo.

ESPN+ will carry the show live in the U.S., an ongoing tradition for Inoue’s “Monster” events in Japan.

Inoue (28-0, 25 knockouts), The Ring’s No. 2-rated pound-for-pound fighter, will attempt his fourth overall defense of at least two 122-pound titles. The bout will also serve as his third defense of The Ring championship, all which will come in an active 2023 campaign.

Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs), No. 3 at 122 by The Ring, will enter his first career title fight.

The show also includes WBO bantamweight titlist Yoshiki Takei (11-0, 8 KOs). An opponent was not revealed during Thursday’s press conference. Takei will make the second defense of the title he won from Jason Moloney on May 4 at the Tokyo Dome. The show was headlined by Inoue’s off-the-canvas, sixth-round knockout of Luis Nery (35-2, 27 KOs).

This event will mark the sixth in a row where Inoue and Takei both appear. It is the third consecutive card where they will both participate in title fights.

Inoue and Goodman were able to reach an agreement to avoid a purse bid hearing scheduled for Oct. 29. Goodman is the IBF mandatory challenger, a status he’s held since a June 2023 win over Ra’eese Aleem. Their IBF title eliminator between unbeaten challengers saw Goodman lodge his best win to date.

Goodman has fought four times since then in his best effort to stay fresh for the biggest fight of his career.

Inoue fully unified the division with a tenth-round knockout of Marlon Tapales last Dec. 26 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. He claimed the IBF and WBA belts, retained the WBC and WBO titles and fulfilled The Ring championship vacancy.

With the win came inherited WBA and IBF mandatories. Tapales was the No. 1-ranked IBF contender when he defeated Murodjon Akhmadaleiev last April 8 in San Antonio, Texas. Akhmadaliev (12-1, 9 KOs) has since made his way to the WBA No. 1 position and was even ordered to next face Inoue. However, the sanctioning body has yet to call for a purse bid or further advance that status.

It opened the door for Goodman to receive his first career title shot more than a year after earning his place in line.

Inoue has won titles in four weight divisions, including undisputed reigns at 118 and 122. He has twice defended The Ring championship and all four major belts at 122 this year. Both were knockout wins over former titleholders. Inoue survived his lone career knockdown in a sixth-round knockout of Nery on May 4. It was followed by a seventh-round stoppage of TJ Doheny on Sept. 3 at Ariake Arena.

Undercard bouts

Ring No. 9-rated welterweight Jin Sasaki (18-1-1, 17 KOs), who faces Shoki Sakai (29-14-3, 15 KOs) in a ten-round contest.

Kai Watanabe (13-1-1, 7 KOs) meets Tsubasa Narai (14-2, 10 KOs) in a ten-round all-Tokyo junior lightweight showdown.

Osaka’s Toshiki Shimomachi (19-1-3, 12 KOs) battles Misaki Hirano (11-1, 4 KOs) in a ten-round bantamweight affair.

Kobe’s Goki Kobayashi (8-1, 5 KOs) squares off with Yuni Takada (15-8-3, 6 KOs) in a 12-round regional strawweight title fight.

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