Boxing news: Sam Goodman hits back at Mark Schleibs over Alex Volkanovski comments, eyes Naoya Inoue world title fight
Sam Goodman is eyeing up a world title fight with Naoya Inoue, but promises to make Mark Schleibs pay for attacking Alex Volkanovski.
Sam Goodman is channelling the spirit of the 2010 Dragons as he aims to lure pound-for-pound boxing king Naoya Inoue to Australia later this year for a world title blockbuster.
And the Albion Park boxer wants the fight to be held in his home town at WIN Stadium in Wollongong.
First though, Goodman must get through the mouthy Mark Schleibs on March 13, in a fiery grudge match that has taken on even more significance following the ‘Magic Man’s’ attack on local hero Alex Volkanovski.
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Just days after Volkanovski was knocked out by Ilia Topuria, Schleibs rubbed salt into the wounds by saying the Windang local was “soft” for getting “iced in two rounds”.
Goodman promises to make him pay for those comments.
“For Schleibs to say something like that to a guy who’s a worldwide star and has done so much for Wollongong and for the sport, it’s outright disrespectful,” Goodman told this masthead. “It’s delusional.
“He’s a clown who just loves a soundbite and to get his little clips on social media.
“He enjoys that side of things more than the actual fighting, and I’m going to expose him for what he is.
“He’s not a true fighter, he’s an Instagram fighter.”
Volkanovski has been a longtime supporter of Goodman’s, even attending one of his earliest professional fights. The UFC star also regularly sends other Aussie fighters messages of support and encouragement.
“He’s a massive support for anyone in our community giving it a go,” Goodman said. “He doesn’t need to – he gets nothing out of it – he’s just genuinely happy for others to do well.
“Mark could never compare to what Volkanovski has done, and to disrespect a guy like that when he’s just had a loss, why are you kicking someone when they’re down?
“It’ll be nice to knock this guy out.”
No Limit CEO George Rose joked that Schleibs might need added security when he arrives in Wollongong after his comments about Volkanovski, and Goodman says his rowdy group of supporters, known as ‘The Mad Bunch’, will be extra fired up too.
“He might need a barricade, he might get stuff thrown at him,” he said. “Especially by the end of the night when it gets extra loose.
“He might need some security and a bit of a hand getting to the ring, otherwise it might be over before he steps in.”
An impressive knockout win over Schleibs could propel Goodman into a world title showdown against Inoue, with Rose saying he wants to bring back the spirit of the Premiership-winning Dragons to Wollongong.
“The vibe here must have been phenomenal, having a champion team playing in your backyard,” he told this masthead. “That’s what we want to achieve with Sammy Goodman.
“We’re talking to (Inoue’s American promoter) Top Rank. They’ve bought shows out here, they know how we get behind events and they know we do good stadium shows.
“This fight against Schleibs is well and truly an audition to get that world title fight here. It’s our push to get a world title fight over the line.”
A Dragons fanatic, Goodman is only too happy to lean into the Red V nostalgia of 2010.
“I would’ve been about 10 or 11, watching the Grand Final in my dad’s mate’s garage,” he told this masthead. “We had everyone around watching the big screen, and I’ve been going with my dad to games since I was about five.
“He was a lower grader at the Steelers, so I was born into it and have been supporting ever since.”
A handy dummy half who played a bit of back row for Albion Park before switching to boxing full time, Goodman looked up to the heroes of Wayne Bennett’s victorious team.
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“I liked Matt Cooper from an early age – I remember wanting to get his footy card out of the chip packets,” he said. “Dean Young, Beau Scott – tough players who were a bit smaller – I always watched those guys.
“Darius Boyd and Ben Hornby – he was a legend for the club as well – they had a great squad and that was an awesome season seeing them win the premiership.”
Rose travels to America this week for media commitments alongside Tim Tszyu at the NRL’s season launch in Las Vegas, and hopes to use the trip to meet with Top Rank boss Bob Arum about plans for an Inoue-Goodman fight in Australia.
Originally published as Boxing news: Sam Goodman hits back at Mark Schleibs over Alex Volkanovski comments, eyes Naoya Inoue world title fight
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