His mission hasn't changed, but Wollongong's Sam Goodman is taking a leaf out of promotional stablemate Tim Tszyu's book in refusing to rest on his mandatory position in pursuit of a world title opportunity.
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The fighting pride of Albion Park became the mandatory contender for the IBF super-bantamweight title currently held by Filipino unified champion Marlon Tapales with a decision win over American Ra'eese Aleem in June.
It prompted the 24-year-old to call out the Filipino champion for a world title showdown in Wollongong, with promotors No Limit also pushing for the bout to be held in the steel city.
Those plans have now been placed on the back-burner, with Tapales set to out his titles WBA and IBF titles on the line against Japanese destroyer Naoya Inoue, who stamped his position as a top-two pound-for-pound star with a demolition of WBC champion Stephen Fulton a fortnight ago.
It will see the newly crowned WBC and WBO champion look to become undisputed champion in just his second bout at 122 pounds, which he'll be heavily favoured to do.
Goodman will risk his IBF No. 1 position in any fight he takes prior to a world-title showdown, but it won't stop him getting in the ring in the same way Tszyu refused to sit on his hands despite becoming a mandatory challenger to undisputed super-welterweight champion Jermell Charlo.
It's proven a shrewd approach given Charlo has subsequently spurned the twice rescheduled bout with Tszyu to climb two divisions for a fight with Mexican mega-star Canelo Alvarez.
Goodman said it's an illustration of the fact "you're promised nothing" when it comes to the fight game.
"You're never guaranteed anything in this sport so you've got to stay busy while you can," Goodman said.
"I'm following a similar sort of path [to Tszyu]. I'm number one now but it looks like I'll be fighting a few fights before I get to a world title. If [No Limit] can get me an interim title, like Tim has, we can do it that way, but I'm following a similar direction.
"It's been done before and I'll look to walk a similar path as what he has. I'll be back to fighting a world-ranked opponent and seeing where we go from there.
"We're starting to look at a lot of potential opponents and locking something in. Hopefully that's done in the next few weeks but, since the last one, I've just focused on my own training and once they come up with a name I'll put all my energy into that."
When and where Goodman does fight next likely hinges on Tszyu's next move, with the Charlo development making another fight in Australia a distinct possibility for the interim WBO champion who had set his sights on the US.
While Goodman had been vocal in his pitch to host Tapales in Wollongong, he wasn't surprised to see his desired opponent face-to-face with Inoue in the ring following his eighth-round TKO of Fulton.
"After I won my last fight my manager was ringing Tapales' people saying 'let's get the fight on' but there was pretty much a deal already done with Inoue, provided he won the fight against Fulton," Goodman said.
"The money you get in Japan to fight Inoue is obviously a bit bigger than coming to Australia when I don't have any world titles at the moment so I pretty much knew then my next fight wasn't going to be for a world title.
"That's a bit disappointing and a bit disheartening. I was hoping someone got injured or it was a tough 12-round fight where maybe a rematch happened, but that wasn't what happened.
"I've got to get back in the ring and I've got a fight. I'll look to do that around October and I'll just stay busy. Once my world title opportunity comes, I'll be taking it against whoever's the champion at the time."
That includes Inoue who - were it not for new undisputed welterweight champion Terrence Crawford's dismantling of fellow pound-for-pound star Erroll Spence days later - would have been considered the best fighter on the planet.
"Everyone's beatable on their day," Goodman said of Inoue.
"You're talking absolute rubbish if you weren't impressed by what [Inoue] did. I knew he was a good fighter, I thought he would knock Fulton out later on in the fight.
"I think Fulton gives you a few opportunities and I thought Inoue, with his power would, would capitalise, but Fulton really didn't get going at all. It was very, very one sided.
"I didn't think it would be as one sided so he [Inoue] was very impressive. I definitely watched it with a keen eye looking at things that I'd probably like to do if I got that opportunity.
"It definitely won't be my next fight, and his next fight will obviously be Tapales, so I'm not going to sit on the sidelines and just wait for my shot."
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
