It’s half an hour after legendary ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr confirmed him as Australia’s newest world champion, and Sam Goodman is in his boxers in his dressing room, talking on the phone.
His sister, Riley, is in tears while some of his closest mates inspect his new world title belt, but Goodman is taking a few quiet moments to speak to his very first boxing coach, Louie Vallesini.
It’s only fitting that the first man to see his boxing potential is his first phone call after his upset win over Japanese monster, Ryosuke Nishida in Tokyo.
“He coached Sammy at Lake Illawarra PCYC,” Goodman’s dad, Steve tells Code Sports. “First time he went in, he was 10 and Louie said, ‘This kid can punch!’”
Still covered in sweat from his stunning unanimous decision win, Goodman tells Vallesini that he was the man who started the journey.
One metre away, Goodman’s current coach, Joel Keegan – the mastermind behind Sunday’s bruising and bloody victory – sits on a chair with his arms folded across his chest and a contented half smile on his face.
What Vallesini put in motion 17 years ago, Keegan and chief second Luke Phipps, moulded into the man who upset $4 odds, a taller opponent with longer reach and a jittery referee to lift the red IBF title.
“I’m just the product of who I’m surrounded by,” an emotional Goodman tells Code Sports in the sheds. “This is everything me and my team and my family have worked for.
“It’s been a long journey.
“It’s hard to put into words. I’ve got the best team in the world and the best minds in boxing.
“It’s been f***ing tough. It’s been hard, but that’s how we train and live.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Dubbed by Johnny Lewis as the fittest fighter since Jeff Fenech, it was Goodman’s volume and work on the inside that got the job done against the power punching Nishida.
There was also referee Deon Dwarte, who deducted a point from Goodman and two points from Nishida in one of the greatest fights of 2026.
“The referee was a bit nervous,” Goodman says. “Joel called it early, that he was a bit jittery.
“He took a point off me and bang, straight away, took two points off him.
“That’s why Joel’s the smartest guy in boxing. He picked it before it happened.”
The team cleans up his dressing room, throwing out a few rice crackers and honey – “You’re allowed wagyu now,” says Phipps – before watching a few rounds of the main event between Takuma Inoue and Tenshin Nasukawa and piling into a jet black Mercedes van for the 20 minute drive back to the hotel.
Through the Tokyo night, they talk about the ref, the scoring, the crowd, and take a call from another Aussie world champion, and Goodman’s training partner, Kaye Scott.
“What about Joely Keegan jumping on the ropes after the fight like a WWE superstar,” laughs manager, Peter Mitrevski Jr.
“How much does it cost to get a replacement IBF world title,” Mitrevski continues. “You’re gonna lose that in Vegas.”
The victory celebrations that began in the van ride back to the hotel, continue to a Tokyo karaoke joint and will carry on in Sin City later this week.
A punter at heart, Goodman took a gamble on himself weeks before Sunday’s win and booked a suite at a hotel on the Vegas trip.
It wasn’t the only wager he took out on himself.
The Aussie battler, who was once so broke he had to steal dog food from Coles, made a side bet with Mitrevski Jr as well: Win, and ‘Baby’ Pete would pay for a business class ticket to Vegas.
“There’s one thing I am, I’m a f***in punter,” says. “I backed myself.
“We booked a suite over there, but I didn’t book flights. The flights are on him now. A deal’s a deal.”
Mitrevski Jr confirms the bet.
“They’ve already been paid for,” he said, showing Code Sports the ticket. “If he got beat, I was cancelling it though!”
Goodman’s mates all bet on him too, and will join him in Vegas.
Known as ‘The Mad Bunch’, they made a collective killing by backing their mate at $4 odds – a price that eventually came in to $2.60 on the day of the fight – and cashing in thousands of dollars.
“They all had flights booked back to Sydney,” Mitrevski says. “But they’ve all cleaned up, taken their winnings from Palmerbet and changed their flights to Vegas.”
After the couple of years Goodman has been through, he deserves to go large in Sin Cirty.
Less than two years, ago, he twice missed out on seven figure paydays when cuts ruled him out of fights with another Japanese icon, Naoya Inoue.
Goodman did his best to hold back tears speaking about the wild journey to this point.
“It’s just the journey, man,” he says. “To be honest, I’m pretty good at getting on with shit.
“It will be the same with this. I’ll enjoy tonight and the next couple of days.
“But, when we get back home, it’s about what’s next. The show goes on. We move on.
“But first, karaoke, wagyu, then Vegas!”