Japanese boxing fans might have to wait a month for the Christmas present they expected Naoya Inoue to deliver December 24.

Sam Goodman, the opponent Inoue was scheduled to face on Christmas Eve in Tokyo, withdrew from their fight Friday after suffering a cut while preparing to challenge one of boxing’s best pound-for-pound. Goodman was cut just above his left eyelid during what was supposed to be his last sparring session before he flew from Australia to Japan on Sunday.

Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) and Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) were set to fight for Inoue’s Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 122-pound championships at Ariake Arena. The hard-hitting Inoue was consistently listed as a heavy favorite to beat Goodman, but Goodman is the No. 1 contender for “The Monster’s” IBF and WBO belts.

Ben Damon, a broadcast journalist from Australia, broke the news regarding Goodman’s cut on social media.

The Ring has learned Inoue’s handlers have contemplated replacing Goodman, who is ranked No. 3 by The Ring, with another Japanese boxer, Toshiki Shimomachi (19-1-3, 12 KOs), to keep this show intact for December 24. It also could be pushed back to January 24, to give Goodman’s cut time to heal.

The left-handed Shimomachi is set to box Japan’s Misaki Hirano (11-1, 4 KOs) in a 10-round bout on Inoue’s undercard December 24. Shimomachi would qualify as Goodman’s late replacement because he is rated No. 5 by the IBF, No. 8 by the WBC and No. 11 by the WBA in the 122-pound division.

The WBO most recently ranked Simomachi as its No. 7 contender in the featherweight division (126 pounds). Shimomachi is not ranked by The Ring in the 122-pound or 126-pound divisions.

Inoue’s team would like to avoid a postponement in large part because Ariake Arena is sold out for December 24.

Still, Shimomachi is a 5-foot-10½ southpaw. Goodman stands 5-foot-6½ and is an orthodox boxer. Such a late switch to a left-handed opponent, without the opportunity to spar consistently with southpaws, could encourage Inoue’s handlers to instead have him fight Goodman a month later.

A one-month postponement could impact Inoue’s schedule for the first half of 2025, though.

Inoue was tentatively slated to return to the ring April 12 in Las Vegas if he would’ve beaten Goodman on December 24. His probable opponent for that bout would’ve been Mexican contender Alan Picasso (30-0-1, 16 KOs), The Ring’s fifth-rated contender in the 122-pound division.

Picasso, who is also the WBC’s No. 1 challenger for one of Inoue’s sanctioning titles, must first defeat Colombia’s Yehison Cuello (13-2-1, 11 KOs) on Saturday night in Tijuana to maintain his top position in the WBC’s super bantamweight ratings.

If Inoue conquers Goodman and Picasso in back-to-back mandated defenses, he intends to battle WBC bantamweight champ Junto Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs) either late in the summer or early in the fall at Tokyo Dome.

An Inoue-Nakatani bout would be the biggest all-Japanese fight in the Asian nation’s boxing history. Nakatani likely would have to win another bout, probably in his 122-pound debut, before a showdown with Inoue is finalized.