Amateur career
Goodman boxed in the Australian National Championships as an amateur, at the schoolboy, junior, and youth levels before boxing at the senior level. Goodman boxed in the 2016 AIBA Youth World Championships. In 2017, Goodman won the Oceanian Championships, which took place on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Professional career
Sam Goodman turned pro in 2018 and has fought exclusively in Australia since. In 2021, he won the Australian National title at featherweight, but it was a brief sojourn as he committed his future to super-bantamweight, winning first the WBO Oriental title and later the IBF Inter-Continental belt to solidify his rankings.
2023 was a breakthrough year for Goodman. First, he defeated TJ Doheny over 10 rounds. The Irishman would go on to box Naoya Inoue for the undisputed crown. Then Sam defeated Ra’eese Aleem by split decision in a title eliminator, going on to take the undefeated records of Zhong Liu (19-0) and Thachtana Luangphon (25-0-1) on his way to a shot at all the super-bantamweight titles. Goodman was twice scheduled to box Naoya Inoue (on December 24, 2024, and January 24, 2025), only for both bouts to be postponed due to recurring cut issues.
Trainers
Joel Keegan
Sam Goodman has trained under Joel Keegan since turning professional. The gym is based in New South Wales, Australia. While training with Keegan, the PBC website noted: “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.”
