{"id":904538,"date":"2026-09-25T04:10:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T04:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/904538\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T04:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T04:10:12","slug":"boxing-2026-sam-goodman-vs-ryosuke-nishida-aussie-mike-altamura-backing-japanese-rival-in-world-title-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/904538\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxing 2026: Sam Goodman vs Ryosuke Nishida, Aussie Mike Altamura backing Japanese rival in world title fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia will be firmly in Sam Goodman\u2019s corner when he fights for a world title in Japan<\/a> on Sunday. <\/p>\n

Well, almost all of Australia.<\/p>\n

Goodman v Nishida | Sunday September 27 from 6pm AEST | Sam Goodman takes on Japan\u2019s Ryosuke Nishida for the interim IBF super bantamweight world title live from Tokyo on Kayo Sports.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Aussie boxing manager and matchmaker Mike Altamura has been involved with Goodman\u2019s opponent, Ryosuke Nishida, since the Japanese fighter\u2019s second professional bout. <\/p>\n

Goodman has told him they can be mates again the day after their interim IBF super bantamweight title fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s refused to talk to me for the last couple of months, but he said that on September 28 we\u2019ll be friends again,\u201d Altamura told Fox Sports Australia of Goodman.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s great. Hopefully we don\u2019t bring him too much misery on September 27.\u201d<\/p>\n

Altamura, who has worked with more than a dozen world champions, has been the international matchmaker for Nishida\u2019s Muto Boxing Gym since 2019. <\/p>\n

He says this is the first time a fighter he represents internationally has faced an Aussie at this level, though he feels no real conflict about it.<\/p>\n

Sam Goodman, Ryosuke Nishida and Mike AltamuraSource: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

Goodman\u2019s manager, Peter Mitrevski, has been a close friend for around 20 years. For Altamura, seeing two Aussie managers on opposite sides of a world-title fight in Japan is something to celebrate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel positive about it because it\u2019s Australia to the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us to kind of be meeting at the absolute elite level in Tokyo, Japan, it feels very fitting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Altamura has already had a good look at Goodman from the other corner. <\/p>\n

He managed TJ Doheny throughout the Irishman\u2019s career, including his loss to Goodman in 2023.<\/p>\n

What he saw that night impressed him. He remembers Goodman\u2019s movement being particularly difficult to read, and says Nishida will have to be sharp to deal with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw Sam at what I felt was his best when he was very fresh, early career, against TJ,\u201d Altamura said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis in-and-out movement was ultra effective and very hard to time and very hard to catch at that point in his career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew Moloney also identified Goodman\u2019s footwork and speed as potential advantages when he spoke to <\/a>Fox Sports Australia<\/a> this week. <\/a><\/p>\n

Altamura agrees Goodman has the quicker feet. He just doesn\u2019t think that will necessarily make them more effective on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Goodman has faster feet in and out, but faster feet in and out doesn\u2019t necessarily mean more effective feet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like Nishida has the tools to be able to counteract that, but he\u2019s got to be on his game. Sam\u2019s an excellent boxer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Japanese boxing star Ryosuke NishidaSource: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

Goodman can do more than move, too. Altamura knows the Albion Park fighter is capable of standing his ground and making it a scrap. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a bit physically stronger than what people think, and he\u2019s an Albion Park boy,\u201d <\/p>\n

Altamura said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t mind standing in front of you and being engaged in a tear-up too. He\u2019s a very courageous young fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Altamura has a warning for anyone looking at Nishida\u2019s record of 11 wins, one loss and just two knockouts and assuming Goodman will have nothing to worry about in the exchanges.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t judge a book by its cover,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s damaged 90 per cent of the opponents that he\u2019s fought. He\u2019s hurt them at one point or another in the fight. He\u2019s physically very strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

The southpaw can box at range, but Altamura says he is happy to hold his ground, draw an opponent in and counter hard. He describes Nishida as a boxer-puncher whose much more comfortable at super bantamweight. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was cutting from like 150 pounds to 118 pounds to make bantamweight,\u201d Altamura said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the extra four pounds of reprieve suits him considerably better.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE BOXING:<\/p>\n

Confirmed: Long-awaited Fury vs Joshua bout locked in as \u2018time for talking is over\u2019 in British showdown<\/a><\/p>\n

Aussie leaves Inoue nightmare behind in bid to join boxing royalty, inspired by iconic wins<\/a><\/p>\n

Gallen Returns! Labels NAS a quitter | 06:10<\/p>\n

Nishida is now at super bantamweight, where Altamura believes he can make better use of that strength. <\/p>\n

Goodman, meanwhile, is chasing the world-title breakthrough that has twice been delayed by cuts ahead of proposed fights with Naoya Inoue. His meeting with Nishida is for the interim IBF belt. <\/p>\n

Altamura believes the stakes could be even greater. He expects Inoue to pursue other fights and eventually leave the division, which could see the winner upgraded to full champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that this contest, although it\u2019s billed as the interim world championship, I believe it\u2019s for the full world championship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

First, Nishida has to get past an opponent Altamura knows well and rates highly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have immense respect for Goodman,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got immense respect for his camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be hoping they still feel the same way about him on Monday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia will be firmly in Sam Goodman\u2019s corner when he fights for a world title in Japan on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":904539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-904538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}