With Naoya Inoue growing increasingly impatient, Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez has said he is willing to accept the Japanese star’s demand for their possible 2027 showdown.
While both have expressed a willingness to collide early next year, it seems Inoue could instead move up to 126lbs and accelerate his quest to become a five-division world champion.
He has, after all, declined to wait around for Rodriguez, who became a three-weight world champion by dethroning Antonio Vargas with a sixth-round knockout earlier this year.
In doing so, the 26-year-old claimed the WBA 118lb title and, since then, has been linked to a unification match with WBO champion Christian Medina.
But while promoter Eddie Hearn has suggested this as a potential opportunity for Bam in December, super-bantamweight king Inoue happens to be far less keen on the idea.
Instead, the 33-year-old says Rodriguez must skip any December fight and move straight up to 122lbs to face him.
“It wouldn’t be realistic [for Rodriguez] to fight in December and then again in March; if it’s going to happen, it has to be a direct matchup,”
Offering his response to Fight Hub TV, meanwhile, head coach Robert Garcia said Bam would gladly sacrifice the Medina fight in pursuit of a blockbuster tussle with Inoue.
“I know Bam wants to fight Inoue. Bam has told me: If it’s next, if we skip our next fight to go into [an Inoue fight] … I’ll do it.
“But [Team Inoue should] at least reach out to us. If it’s worth it for us, and the negotiations go well, we’re willing to do it.”
Regardless of whether he faces Rodriguez, Inoue expects to return early next year after retaining his four world titles with a points victory over Junto Nakatani in May.
