Naoya Inoue has already confirmed his planned next fight after stopping Luis Nery.
'The Monster' suffered a huge scare after being dropped for the first time in his career by Mexican challenger Nery with just minutes gone of the encounter in Tokyo.
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But in typically elite fashion, Inoue rallied and dropped his opponent twice before closing the show with a frightening one-punch KO in the sixth stanza.
Inoue then took to the microphone for his post-fight interview, where it was confirmed that he is in negotiations to fight IBF mandatory challenger Sam Goodman.
The fight is pencilled in for September and talks are getting underway, with the fight earmarked to be held in a stadium in Australia.
He said: “I’m looking forward to the negotiation to fight against Sam Goodman in September.”
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Goodman also added: "I’ve been mandatory for over a year, either give up the belts or fight me. Let’s get it on.”
Boxing is booming in the continent with Devin Haney having beaten home favourite George Kambosos twice in Melbourne.
Jeff Horn famously beat Manny Pacquiao to clinch the WBO world title in 2017 in a seismic shock inflicted by a home fighter on Australian shores.
Goodman recently beat domestic rival Sam Scheibs in March to continue his fine run before calling out Inoue.
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And he will be hoping to emulate Horn's success and pull off one of the all-time great performances later in 2024.
His promoter George Rose has already insisted it will be a huge coup to attract the champion to the region.
Ringside footage shows Naoya Inoue being viciously dropped for the first time in his career by Luis Nery in all its glory
“This would be a huge coup for not only Australian boxing, but Australian sport. Inoue is a once-in-a-generation fighter.
“It’s why the guy is packing out stadiums in Japan, why he has such a huge following globally and why whenever he takes a world title fight, it’s something the whole world tunes in for.
"The aura he has at the moment, the fighter you compare him to is Manny Pacquiao. This is the fight Sam wants and one we want in Australia.”
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