Muto Promotions won the Ryosuke Nishida-Sam Goodman purse bid and will host the IBF interim junior featherweight world title fight in Japan later this year. The two teams were instructed to negotiate a deal and naturally, both wanted home advantage but were unable to broker a deal.

The fight went to a purse bid, Muto Promotions' winning bid of $610,000 beat No Limit's $583,500 offer. The fighters will split that equally, meaning each will earn $305,000 and the winner will be in line to challenge Ring and undisputed champion Naoya Inoue in future.

Muto Promotions chief Takashi Edagawa said the fight will take place in Japan sometime in September or October, benefiting his man.

"Fighting in Japan will be a key factor in Ryosuke Nishida's victory," Edagawa told The Ring.

"Winning by decision in Australia would likely be difficult, Australian judging tends to favor the home fighter. Since Nishida is a boxer who wins by decision, he really needs to fight in Japan."

Nishida is currently No. 1 in the IBF rankings, while Goodman sits a place below him at No. 2.

Goodman (22-1, 8 KOs), The Ring's No. 2 junior featherweight, worked his way through the domestic scene in Australia. The 27-year-old contender came to the fore when outpointing former titleholder TJ Doheny over ten rounds, as well as a 12-round split decision win against previously-unbeaten Ra'eese Aleem in an IBF eliminator.

He had twice been tabbed to face Inoue but a cut in sparring curtailed those plans. Goodman was offered the opportunity to jump into the featherweight waters, where he fared well but lost a competitive 12-round decision against then-WBA ruler Nick Ball.

After returning to 122 pounds, he has won consecutive fights including a decision win over Rodrigo Ruiz on April 5.

Nishida meanwhile, The Ring's No. 6 rated junior featherweight, turned pro in 2019. In just his third outing, he bested former world title challenger Shohei Omari over eight rounds, then followed that up with a dominant 12-round decision win over former WBC flyweight titleholder Daigo Higa.

A wrist injury slowed him down but on his return, beat future WBO 118-pound boss Christian Medina in an IBF eliminator. He followed that by unseating IBF champion Emmanuel Rodriguez, stopped Anuchai Donsua with a seventh-round knockout in his only defense before retiring after six rounds against Junto Nakatani in a WBC/IBF unification last June.

He rebounded with an excellent points win over Israel Mercado in another IBF eliminator on February 15.