Talk of a showdown between Naoya Inoue and Jesse Rodriguez has been rife in recent months, but now ‘Bam’s trainer has revealed where negotiations are currently at for a clash between the two pound-for-pound stars.
Inoue trumped Junto Nakatani in a career-best win back in May to defend his undisputed super-bantamweight world titles for a seventh time in what has been continuously referred to as the biggest fight in the history of Japanese boxing.
Meanwhile, ‘Bam’ Rodriguez moved up to bantamweight in order to inch closer to ‘The Monster’ and claimed the WBA title on his 118lb debut, before Inoue’s threats to head up to featherweight led to concerns that a bout between he and the Texan may never happen.
Yet, in an interview on the True Hustle Podcast, Rodriguez’s trainer, Robert Garcia, insists the fight ‘will happen’ but wants his man to have a bantamweight title unification against WBO titleholder Christian Medina within the next couple of months before a potential meeting with Inoue in March.
“I think that it is going to happen – it will happen.
I can’t promise you guys but what Inoue has said is that he can’t wait more than until March to make that fight because if not he is moving up to 126lbs.
“They are not very far [away]. Right now, Bam just became champion at 118lbs, Inoue is at 122lbs, it is only a four-pound difference. The talent is there, the skills are there for Bam, but I am also not just a trainer that puts my fighters in there like a pendejo, I am smart about it.
“I keep asking, I want one more fight at 118, he has just had one fight at 118 against Vargas. So, I want a better challenge, I want a bigger challenge, that is why I am asking for one more fight against ‘Chispa’ [Christian] Medina from Guadalajara, a strong kid, a solid kid.
“I know that fighter is going to put Bam in that real test, that is what I need in order for me to say ‘you know what, let’s go’. That is all I am asking for and if we can do it in late October or November, then we have got plenty of time to get ready for Inoue too.”
Rodriguez-Medina has been mentioned as a possible co-main event for either Canelo Alvarez and Christian Mbilli’s bout next month (Oct. 31) or the heavyweight contest between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, which is believed to be being targeted for Friday, November 20.
