The IBF officially ordered an interim 122-pound title fight between Australia’s Sam Goodman (22-1, 8 KOs) and Japan’s Ryosuke Nishida (11-1, 2 KOs). The winner will move into prime position to challenge Inoue, The Ring’s No. 1-rated pound-for-pound fighter, Goodman’s promoter, No Limit Boxing, announced Monday.

Goodman and Nishida have 30 days to finalize a deal or the fight will move to a purse bid, per IBF rules. Nishida is ranked No. 1 by the IBF and Goodman is second. The Ring has Goodman rated No. 2 in the division and Nishida sixth.

Goodman and Inoue aren’t strangers.

The 27-year-old contender was supposed to face Inoue in December 2024, but a serious cut over his left eye postponed the fight to January 2025. Goodman suffered another eye injury soon afterward, which forced Inoue to punt on the pitting altogether and move on to an eventual fourth-round knockout of Ye Joon Kim.

Goodman has gotten his health back together since then. He is 3-1 over the past 13 months, with the lone blemish coming in a spirited effort during a title shot against Nick Ball, then the WBA featherweight champion, on August 16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Goodman last fought April 5, when he scored a 12-round, unanimous-decision win against Rodrigo Fabian Ruiz.

Last week, Goodman was reportedly linked to landing a fight against Ramon Cardenas on the Errol Spence-Tim Tszyu card next month in Australia, but the bout was scrapped immediately it was revealed. Gaining traction for an interim title tilt against Nishida appears to be the likely reason why.

Nishida, a former 118-pound titleholder, rebounded from his sixth-round stoppage loss to Junto Nakatani a year ago by scoring a technical decision over Bryan Vazquez on February 15.

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.