David Benavidez has made his prediction for a mooted matchup between fellow pound-for-pound stars Naoya Inoue and Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez.
Inoue has not fought since a career-best win over Junto Nakatani back in May, with the Japanese sensation being content having some much-needed time off after a relentless run as the undisputed super-bantamweight champion.
Whilst he has been inactive, the 33-year-old has been called out to take on former unified super-flyweight world champion Rodriguez, who moved up to bantamweight in June and captured the WBA bantamweight crown.
Yet, whilst ‘Bam’ is inching closer to Inoue, the Texan has been given a deadline of March 2027, with Inoue threatening to move up to featherweight if Rodriguez is not ready to face him by then, but it seems as though Rodriguez has now agreed to those terms.
Speaking with ESNews, Benavidez looked ahead to the proposed 122lb affair and revealed that he is picking Rodriguez to spring the upset and hand Inoue a first career defeat.
“That is a great fight. Honestly, I would just love to watch it. I have got Bam winning. I have met him a couple of times, he is a great dude, so he has my support, but it is a great fight.
“That is a fight that we would love to see.”
It is unclear whether Rodriguez is still targeting a December outing as he prepares for Inoue, but the clock is well and truly ticking and the American must make his decision soon on what he will do next.
