Robert Garcia is certain that Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and Naoya “The Monster” Inoue will meet in the future. For now, however, the focus is on other fights.
Robert Garcia, Jesse Rodriguez’s trainer, firmly expects a duel between “Bam” and Naoya Inoue. He is not talking about “if”, but “when”. For Garcia, one thing is clear: as soon as the weight class is right, the fight is on the table. “I’m not chasing the fight, but it will happen,” says Garcia on “Inside The Ring” on DAZN. After the evening in Riyadh on December 27, the topic will become even louder. Garcia reports calls from Saudi Arabia: “What about this fight, is it coming?” “Bam vs Inoue” is the big topic of conversation on social media.
Rodriguez is 25 and has long been one of the world’s best. He holds the titles of The Ring, WBA, WBC and WBO in superflying. On November 22, he stopped Fernando Martinez in round ten in Riyadh to win the WBA belt and can now call himself a triple champion. Garcia first looks at Rodriguez’s current limit. He wants to make his protégé the undisputed super flyweight champion. To do so, “Bam” would next have to fight IBF champion Willibaldo Garcia. A fight for “Undisputed” status is possible in April or May.
Inoue has Nakatani in his sights
Inoue is the undisputed champion in the Superbantam – two weight classes higher. He defends his belt at the end of December with a clear points victory against Alan Picasso. At the same time, Junto Nakatani wins on points against Sebastian Hernandez. This means that the Japanese super duel between Inoue and Nakatani is practically set for 2026.
Garcia also considers Rodriguez against Nakatani to be realistic. However, he is planning intermediate stops on Rodriguez’s way to the top. He wants his boxer to fight more than once at bantamweight before moving up to super bantam for a mega-fight against one of the Japanese. If the offer is right, however, Garcia also sees “Bam” taking a very quick shortcut to the limit. “When I tell Bam the fight is there, he jumps to 122, he doesn’t care. Bam wants to fight anyone.” Rodriguez against Inoue therefore remains a scenario that is already electrifying the industry.
Text by Robin Josten