Goodman vs Vaca Fight Results: Goodman suffers Fresh Cut, Outclasses Vaca

Sensing a need to change tactics, the Guadalajara native attempted to wrestle back control of the ring position in the fourth with a greater focus on jabbing. While the newfound approach led to some success with straight right-left hook combination, Goodman had also honed in on his preferred distance and, by the bout’s halfway point, began to pot-shot with his strong straight right at long range.

Still, Vaca continued to try and find an answer, but after a switch to southpaw at the start of the seventh was thwarted by a left rip to the body by Goodman, it appeared there was no solution in sight. That is, until a much more aggressive approach was adopted in the following period. Having now thrown caution to the wind, Vaca managed to sting Goodman with a wild left hook that caused further damage to his previously cut left eye. To rub salt into the fresh wounds, the right brow opened up in the ninth following a hefty head clash.

Maintaining calm under blood-soaked pressure, Goodman boxed the remainder of the bout in the same composed fashion as he had in rounds prior to take the decision victory. Recognizing that he had not come through the Vaca test unscathed, ‘The Ghost’, as he is colloquially known, detailed post-fight his thought process in the contest’s final moments and the idea of recovering from another cut brow. To him, returning to the ring has done much to heal the physical and emotional turmoil of the past year.

“I tried to get through it without any cuts, but that’s not my style this year,” Goodman joked with Main Event’s Ben Damon.

“Beautiful punch. It was the punch that got me with this one (left eye), and f*** it was a beauty of a headbutt that got me over here (right). The next two rounds were managing the next three, getting through and winning the fight, listening to my corner, and being smart. It was getting back here, getting that momentum, and getting back on the road to world titles.

“I had to be very controlled, very smart. I knew he was a weily guy, had a lot of moves, and we knew he was a Mexican, they can all punch a bit.”

Having almost certainly exited the Inoue sweepstakes, given that “The Monster” is reportedly targeting former champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev and a move to featherweight, it is hard to say what Goodman’s next in-ring move may be. The focus now turns out-of-ring, where the path is a much clearer one.  “A couple of stitches, but I’m looking to be back in the gym once everything’s healed up. Let’s go,” Goodman finished.

Garside Picks Up Where He Left Off

In the evening’s co-main event, dual Olympian Harry Garside (4-0, 3 KOs) ended his three-year hiatus from the professional ranks with a sixth-round TKO over a gallant Charlie Bell (5-2, KOs).

Despite suffering a wide cut over the left eye caused by a first-round head clash, the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist fought undeterred, going from strength to strength with each passing stanza. Boxing at a comfortable distance behind a long lead hand, Garside found a home time and again for his southpaw straight left. Though the Queensland coal miner Bell tried his best to find a way past his opponent’s jab, most of his attempts to unload offense were met by fast, clean combinations.

Before the sixth and final frame could begin, referee Les Fear intervened to stop proceedings, reasoning that Bell had worn too many clean punches. In response, a barrage of expletive-filled protests was fired from the defeated boxer. While he had been outclassed and therefore ‘saved from himself’ so to speak, there is no evidence to suggest he had been badly hurt, leaving onlookers divided over what the right call was in that situation. Regardless, the return to the ring was a positive one for Garside, who will now look to other domestic opportunities.

Ivic And Vousiutu Wage War

It was the pedestrian start that soon became a sprint to the finish, as Australian heavyweight champion Stevan Ivic (7-0-1, 2 KOs) successfully defended his crown with a unanimous decision win (96-94, 96-93, 96-93) over the dangerous Toese Vousiutu (8-2, 7 KOs), in what may well go down as Australia’s fight of the year at December’s end.

A clear trend developed across a slow first four rounds, with a patient, accurate Ivic waiting for the forward moving and calculated Vousiutu to present an opening. Things soon heated up though, as both competitors made the decision to let their hands go in the fifth, but it was the final punch of the frame, a heavy right from Ivic, that started to turn the tide.

Things seemingly went from bad to worse in the sixth for the challenger, as another right hand found his chin. From here, it felt that the end was nigh as Ivic unloaded what felt like a never-ending flurry of bruising uppercuts and hooks that found the mark. After getting up from the canvas, Vousiutu’s feet looked as though they had been beset with concrete, yet he survived until the bell. What happened from here is beyond description. By the end of the seventh, the now slugfest had turned on its head, and as they made their way back to their corners, it was Ivic who was worse for wear, having worn his own share of concussive blows.

The final nine minutes saw just as much drama unfold. Each had their moments, each looked like crumbling, each gasping for a second wind. Ultimately, the cards went the way of Ivic, though watchers will have come away feeling that there were no losers, only a collection of inspired fans grateful for the violent spectacle they had just witnessed.

Undercard Results 

Earlier, Sydney-based Moroccan Mounir Fathi (9-1, 9 KOs) scored the biggest win of his career to date, finishing the durable Wade Ryan (22-13-1, 8 KOs) in the third round of a scheduled 10. The bigger and more powerful of the two, Fathi, set about breaking down his opponent from the opening seconds. An early investment to the body led to the 30-year-old finding an opening for a heavy right hand that Ryan was unable to rise from.

In an exciting affair to kick off the main card, Charlie Kazzi (9-0, 4 KOs) and Patrick Vella (2-1) stood toe to toe for eight rounds in pursuit of the ANBF Australasian lightweight title. Despite the back-and-forth nature of the contest, one that saw three and four-punch combinations land at will from both men throughout its duration, it was the 19-year-old Kazzi who walked away with a surprisingly wide unanimous decision victory (77-75, 79-73 x 2).