Following last month’s win over Junto Nakatani, Naoya Inoue has been linked with Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez. However, Rodriguez, presuming he wins this weekend, sees a ‘perfect storyline’ feturing another name first.
Rodriguez has excelled on the world stage since announcing himself at the elite level with a 2022 victory over Carlos Cuadras, where he claimed the WBC super-flyweight world title on short notice.
Since then. ‘Bam’ has dropped down to capture the unified flyweight world title and returned to 115lbs, where a host of unifications and title defences have thrust him into pound-for-pound contention.
This weekend, he is set to move up and challenge for the WBA bantamweight crown against Antonio Vargas, seeking to become a three-division world champion ahead of an eventual bid for Naoya Inoue’s undisputed super-bantamweight throne.
Yet, speaking with Ring Magazine, Rodriguez admitted that he is interested in a showdown with WBC bantamweight champion Takuma Inoue, brother of Naoya, to build additional interest for his challenge for all four 126lb belts.
“Yeah, I think that [beating Takuma] is almost the perfect storyline to the [Naoya] Inoue fight; beating his brother and then going in and fighting the second brother.
“I feel like I just need to stay focussed on this [Vargas] fight. It’s a tough fight that I have in front of me and I know that I can get the job done, I know that I will get the job done. After June 13, then we can talk about the future.”
