‘It was a laugh’: Sam Goodman has cleared the air regarding comments about St George-Illawarra’s bombed try

Australian boxer Sam Goodman has cleared up comments he made about Dragons forward Jaydn Su’A after his bombed try at Magic Round.

Sam Goodman might be steering clear of Jaydn Su’A for a while after he was caught on camera saying the Dragons forward must have money on the Tigers following his bombed try at Magic Round last weekend.

A Dragons diehard, Goodman is a week out from his comeback fight against Mexican slugger Cesar Vaca at the Hordern Pavilion on May 14, and was pitch-side for St George Illawarra’s 34-28 defeat to the Tigers on Saturday night.

Su’A’s all-time botched try came just moments before Goodman was due to be interviewed by Fox Sports’ Jake Duke at halftime at Suncorp Stadium.

With the cameras rolling as Jahream Bula raced 100m to score at the other end, Goodman said of Su’A: “He’s had to have had a multi on the Tigers, how have you done that?”

Speaking to CODE Sports, Goodman cleared up his comments, admitting he actually had a financial investment in the Dragons game.

“I had a little bet on the Dragons and it was paying decent,” Goodman said. “Dragons was my last leg to win, so I was watching that like, ‘No way!’

“So (it looks like) I’m accusing him of being a cheat and old mate at Kayo’s clipped it up.

“Man, Jaydn Sua’s not going to be a fan.

Jaydn Su’A was devastated after his botched try. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

“It was a laugh, it was how I felt at the time. How do you bomb that?

“It’s one thing to bomb a try over the line. You’d feel terrible. It’s another thing when the other team runs down and scores at the other end of the field.

“It could’ve been 18-20 going into halftime, instead it was 26-12 or something like that. It changes the game.

“But, I wasn’t seriously accusing him, that’s just how I felt at the time. I was shocked.”

World title hopeful Goodman also doubled down on his belief that pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue can be beaten after he was dropped on his way to an eighth round TKO win over Ramon Cardenas on Monday.

Goodman was arguably less shocked watching undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Inoue get dropped with a big left hook in his title defence against Ramon Cardenas in Las Vegas.

Inoue was dropped by Cardenas in the second. Picture: Steve Marcus/Getty Images

Goodman has been Inoue’s mandatory for almost two years, but was twice forced out of their fight due to cuts suffered in sparring.

The Wollongong local remains adamant the Japanese superstar can be beaten though, and says his supposedly suspect chin proves it.

Inoue was floored by a left hook for the second time in his career in the second round against Cardenas, but got back up and arguably won the next six rounds before the fight was stopped in the eighth.

“Is he a great fighter? Yes, a hundred percent. Is he beatable as well? Yes,” Goodman said. “But after the knockdown, you could tell Ramon was very left hook happy.

“That’s all he was looking for. He abandoned his jab, which is what was working early on and got it mixed up.

“Inoue got back to what he does well though and started to put shots behind it and dug himself out of it like he’s done before.”

Goodman hasn’t fought since his decision win over Chainoi Worawut last July. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

Inoue is reportedly booked to fight 13-1 former unified super-bantamweight world champ Murodjon ‘MJ’ Akhmadaliev in September, but Goodman is hopeful a win over Vaca will propel him back into title contention.

“It’s about getting back in the ring again and getting that momentum going,” he said. “It’s about getting another win, putting myself back out there.

“My team knows I want to be pushing towards world titles.

“I’ve been the mandatory for so long now, and I was only out due to injury.

“I’m sick of saying it, but you can’t go into a fight at 60 or 70%. You can’t give a bloke a leg up at this level.

“He wouldn’t be fighting if he just had 15 stitches in his eye. It’s just what happens.”

In other boxing news, Nikita Tszyu’s comeback has been pushed back another two months until August.

Tszyu hasn’t fought since his epic encounter with Koen Mazoudier in August last year.

The younger brother of Tim Tszyu, Nikita needed surgery on his hand following the fight and has barely been able to throw a punch since.

There were hopes Tszyu would be ready to fight on Goodman’s undercard next week, before a return date was shifted to June.

But it now appears Nikita won’t be back in action until after Tim’s rematch with Sebastian Fundora, scheduled for late July.

Tszyu’s manager, Glen Jennings told this masthead the delays are due to issues with his tendons as he recovers from surgery.

Originally published as ‘It was a laugh’: Sam Goodman has cleared the air regarding comments about St George-Illawarra’s bombed try