EARLY YEARS

Sam Goodman is one of the few boys to take up boxing because it was safer than another sport.

He was 10 when he injured his arm playing rugby league, after which his father Steve (a former rugby player) suggested he go the local PCYC Sutherland club and give boxing a try. He didn’t thrive immediately – “I thought I was a bit better than I was,” he said – but it didn’t take him long to catch on.

He won his first national title at 12. He had found his calling. “After that, there was no looking back. It was this or bust,” he said.

Goodman ended up taking in part in around 100 fights in the unpaid ranks, an amateur career that peaked when he qualified for the 2017 World Championships. That experience gave him a solid, indispensable fundamental foundation and made him one of the top amateurs in his country.

However, he always preferred longer fights – “proper battles,” as he called them – to the three-round variety. Plus, he dreamed of emulating professional his boxing idols, initially knockout artists Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. and later master technicians Vasiliy Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk.

That’s one reason he set aside an earlier goal of fighting in the Olympics and turned pro.

“The end goal was always for me to win world titles as a pro,” he said. “That was always my dream, to get my name up in lights. That’s been my goal since I was a kid.”

Goodman, under the educated eye of respected trainer Joel Keegan, wasted no time making a strong impression as a pro.

He needed only eight fights – all one-sided victories over fellow newcomers or journeymen – to earn a shot at his first Australian championship, a scheduled eight-round featherweight bout against Nort Beauchamp in June 2021 at the ICC Exhibition Centre in Sydney. Goodman won the first five rounds on all three cards before stopping his more experienced opponent in Round 6. He had his first belt.

Then came a bigger challenge, a meeting with two-time world title challenger Richie Mepranum for the vacant WBO Oriental super bantamweight title in December 2021 at The Star Event Centre in Sydney. Different opponent, same result: Goodman stopped his Filipino opponent in six rounds.

He had won his first regional championship in his 10th fight.

“That was a massive one,” he said of the victory over Mepranum. “… My first regional title started pushing me up in the rankings. It was a big one for me. It was my first fight with a new promoter (No Limit Boxing Promotions).

“It was almost like the start of a new journey. It started to put my name up there with blokes on the world level.”

AN INCREDIBLE YEAR

Goodman built on his momentum in 2022, easily outpointing Fumiya Fuse in May, stopping Juan Miguel Elorde in eight rounds in July and nearly shutting out Jason Cooper in October to bolster his status as a rising contender.

Then came a magic 2023.

It started with the break-through victory over Doheny, which was more convincing that some expected given the Irish-born Aussie’s credentials. He simply didn’t have the tools to compete on the same level as a fighter as talented and well-schooled Goodman, who won 100-89, 98-92 and 97-92 at .

Goodman believes he made a strong statement in that fight.

“I didn’t really get credit for it,” he said. “[Doheny] got two big wins in Japan after our fight. My win looks better now than when I beat him.”

Next came an even sterner a test, a meeting with quick, clever Ra’eese Aleem, a then-unbeaten contender from Michigan, on the Tszyu-Carlos Ocampo card at Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach, Australia. Aleem was about a 1½-1 betting favorite.

And the American fought like one early in the fight, outboxing Goodman in the opening rounds. Those watching had to wonder whether the then-24-year-old had chosen the wrong opponent.

He hadn’t. Goodman, fighting with the poise of a veteran, was unfazed. He simply bit down on his mouthpiece, shifted into another gear and outworked Aleem the rest of the way to win a split decision – 117-111, 116-112 and 112-116 – that many observers believe should’ve been unanimous.

Goodman had passed his biggest test, catapulting him higher in the rankings as a result. He’s currently the IBF and WBO’s top contender.

“I was the underdog in that fight,” he said with a note of pride in his voice. “Some people thought it was a step too far. I proved everyone wrong. I showed why I’m number one in these organizations.”

Goodman went on to nearly shut out both Miguel Flores in October 2023 and Zhong Liu two months later, capping his terrific year and underscoring the strong impression that he’s a world champion in waiting.

His supporters in Australia certainly have noticed.

“I think Tim Tszyu probably has the biggest fan base [in Australia] but I reckon mine are crazier than his,” Goodman said with laugh. “… It’s about bringing a lot of fans, a lot of people to the arena. I’ve had over 200 or so travel from my hometown to other states. I have an incredible fan base. I have the support of all of them backing me.

“Now it’s about growing it, making it bigger. I’m trying to build that kind of support.”

Goodman is putting in the work necessary to get even better. That’s obvious to everyone around him. For example, iconic Australian trainer Johnny Lewis, mentor to six world champions, described Goodman as “the fittest fighter I’ve seen since the days of Jeff Fenech.”

Another example: Goodman drove thousands of miles over the years from his home in New South Wales, more than a two-hour drive each way, to train with Keegan at the Complete Boxing gym on the Central Coast before finally moving there. That’s commitment.

And he has been willing to travel periodically half way around the world – to boxing hotbeds like Los Angeles – to get the elite-level sparring necessary to hone his skills and give himself the best chance to realize his dreams.

Yes, he’s all in. And it’s paying off.

“I want to win as many titles as I possibly can in the sport,” he said. “That’s really been my goal, to win as many world titles as possible, to really put myself out there. Being a world champion, carrying myself like a world champion. …

“I’m very close. And I know after I achieve that, I won’t stop. I’m still young. There is plenty for me left to do in the sport.”