Could Goodman repeat massive upset at scene of boxing's greatest boilover?

Goodman was one of 50,000 people who packed the venue on Monday night to watch pound-for-pound great Naoya Inoue stop Mexican slugger Luis Nery in six rounds to retain his undisputed super-bantamweight crown.

It was also the scene of journeyman heavyweight James 'Buster' Douglas' stunning KO victory over a then unbeaten Mike Tyson in February 1990.

That performance shocked the world but, in pure match-up terms, 25-year-old Goodman dethroning the Japanese four-division champion could well topple it in the upset stakes.

Inoue has been an undisputed (four-belt) champion in two divisions and is regularly ranked only behind American Terence Crawford in global pound-for-pound rankings.

The victory over Nery was his 24^th stoppage win in 27 bouts without a loss, despite tasting the canvas for the first time in his career in the opening round.

It left Goodman convinced he saw enough to say "I can do what I need to do to win that fight."

Should he do it, No Limit Boxing CEO George Rose spoke for many in saying it would be among the finest sporting feats achieved by an Aussie.

"Off the back of that win the other night, people are talking about Inoue being in the conversation for greatest fighter ever," Rose told the Mercury from Las Vegas.

"That's the standing Inoue has, people are talking about him as one of the greatest fighters ever. There's no bigger fight in the lighter weights than Inoue.

"He's the Canelo (Mexican star Saul Alvarez) of the lower divisions. He's the biggest payday that exists, everybody wants a piece of him.

"Not only that, he's got all the belts as well. He's currently undisputed and Sam Goodman gets a shot at four belts in one go against the guy who's at the top of the list of all time greats.

"When Sam beats him, you would have to say that it's one of the greatest achievements in Australian boxing history."

The bout slated for September is yet to be locked in but appears fait accompli - as much as anything can be in boxing - after Inoue called Goodman into the ring to propose the fight following Monday's victory.

It comes just months after Rose launched a public bid to bring Inoue to Wollongong to face Goodman at WIN Stadium.

That possibility remains on the table, but Rose admits Inoue's global standing, and the fact he holds all four belts, means any bout will likely occur on the champion's terms.

"I might need [The Mercury] go down and get a few videos of that beautiful beach off the back of the stadium because that'll help sell it," Rose said.

"It's such a beautiful location and it would be great to be able to host a fight there. If you're going to do it you'd do it for Inoue, he's an absolute global superstar, but it'll be very hard to get it done.

"We'd love to get it done in Australia, but when you watch Inoue performing in front of 55,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome, it's hard to take that away.

"If we were [regularly] fighting in front of 50,000 fans in Australia, there's no way I'm going into someone else's backyard and risking all of the belts, especially against someone like Sam Goodman who absolutely has the ability to shock the world.

"If we end up in Japan, so be it, it's going to be amazing."

Rose spoke to the Mercury en route to Puerto Rico for the IBF annual convention where he will be urging the sanctioning body to enforce Goodman's No. 1 status as mandatory challenger.

Already boasting a good relationship with Top Rank's Bob Arum and Inoue's Japanese promotor Mr. Honda, Rose is confident a deal can be done for September.

"We've been in conversations with Mr. Honda in Japan, and obviously we are in regular contact with Top Rank as well," Rose said.

"We've obviously had really good conversations with them, but to have extra enforcement from the IBF will really help in making sure that this fight is next.

"Going down to the IBF convention we'll be really lobbying hard for the mandatory to be enforced for the next fight.

"When you're dealing with a superstar like Inoue you've got to bide your time, and Sam Goodman has well and truly done that. He hasn't just sat around and waited.

"He's continued to grow as a fighter and as a person preparing for this moment. It's finally here, we've just got to lock away the final details and Sam Goodman's ready to shock the world."