Jesse Rodriguez is in hot pursuit of a clash with Naoya Inoue, and four-division world champion Roy Jones Jr has shared his thoughts on the proposed fight.
Rodriguez has captured world honours at flyweight, super-flyweight and now bantamweight, having knocked out Antonio Vargas to claim the WBA bantamweight world title earlier this month, in what was anticipated to be a pitstop on route to an Inoue fight at super-bantamweight.
That appeared to change following that win, as his trainer Robert Garcia declared he would prefer ‘Bam’ to have one more fight at 118lbs before moving up again to take on Inoue, with WBO world champion Christian Medina appearing the most likely opponent.
It therefore seems as though Rodriguez will delay the Inoue fight until 2027, but Jones Jr told ATS Boxing that the decision does not mean that the Texan is ducking ‘The Monster’.
“Inoue is not just another fighter. He is not somebody where you are just going to walk in off of the street and beat him, you have got to be ready to deal with all of those things.
“That’s why I’m sure that Garcia wants him to get a fight at 122lbs to get used to that first, so at least he knows, or has a feel, what he is dealing with, then we fight.
“He said, ‘one fight, then we fight’. That is not a duck game, that is just him getting his fighter prepared.”
Jones then went on to highlight the importance of the fight, believing that Rodriguez could assume Inoue’s position as the pound-for-pound number one if he is able to hand the Japanese superstar a first career defeat.
“If he goes and challenges and defeats Inoue, he may become the number one pound-for-pound guy in the sport right now.”
It is rumoured that Inoue-Rodriguez will take place in February 2027, with both men expected to face alternate opponents in the autumn.