Ra’eese Aleem faces Sam Goodman at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Broadbeach, QLD, Australia on Sunday, June 18. The contest pits Las Vegas-based undefeated contender of Muskegon, Michigan up against unbeaten representative of the country-host of Albion Park, New South Wales.
The pair squares off in the 12-round IBF super bantamweight title eliminator. The bout serves as the co-feature to Tim Tszyu vs Carlos Ocampo live on Main Event on Kayo.
Aleem (20-0, 12 KOs), who goes through the ropes for the first time outside the U.S., called his fight against Goodman (14-0, 7 KOs) “a chess match, but a brutal one”.
The 32-year-old American fighter last fought in September 2022 in Los Angeles, where he scored a unanimous decision against Mike Plania. The 24-year-old Australian boxer was in action in March in Sydney, where he defeated TJ Doheny also by UD.
‘Everything changes for me if I win this fight’
“I believe my fight with Goodman is going to be a war,” Aleem said prior to arriving in Australia. “He does a lot of nice things in the ring, but so do I. It’s a matchup of unique styles. He likes to fight off the back foot and I like to do multiple things. I’ll be throwing hard punches as always looking for the knockout. It’s going to be a chess match, but a brutal one.”
“I kept my weight in check, so I feel strong going into this fight. I feel everything came together during this camp and I’m ready to go.”
“Deep down inside I’m excited to be fighting Goodman in his Australia, where he calls home. I’m a proud American and I’ll do anything to bring pride to our country. Although it’s just a boxing match, we’ll be going toe-to-toe, and I’ll be representing the great United States of America.”
“Winning this fight will catapult me to a world title shot. Not only am I fighting someone in his own country, but it’s a title elimination bout to see who’s next to fight for the title. Everything changes for me if I win this fight, so you best believe I’m coming with everything I got. I’m leaving everything in the ring against Goodman.”
In the main event, undefeated Tim Tszyu (22-0, 16 KOs) of Sydney, NSW defends his interim WBO super welterweight belt against former title challenger Carlos Ocampo (35-2, 23 KOs) of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
Boxing fans in the United States can watch the event on Saturday, June 17 live on Showtime.
The post Ra’eese Aleem: Winning fight against Sam Goodman will catapult me to world title shot appeared first on FIGHTMAG.