Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez’s knockout win over Antonio Vargas has pushed the Naoya Inoue conversation closer than ever, but his team may still take one or two fights before jumping to 122lbs.
Rodriguez stopped Vargas in the sixth round in Glendale to become WBA bantamweight champion and a three-division titleholder. With only one division now separating him from Inoue, promoter Eddie Hearn says the fight is far more realistic than it looked when Bam was still at 115lbs.
“If we don’t do it soon, we’ll probably miss the boat,” Hearn said, pointing to the chance that Inoue could eventually move up to featherweight. But he also admitted that moving to 122lbs after just one fight at bantamweight would be a disadvantage for Rodriguez.
One possible route is a fight with Takuma Inoue, Naoya’s younger brother and the WBC bantamweight champion. Hearn called it a “great narrative and a great story,” especially because it would also be a bantamweight unification.
Another option is Christian Medina, the WBO bantamweight champion and a Matchroom stablemate. Robert Garcia said that was already the team’s plan before the Vargas fight and believes Medina would be a strong test for Bam before the end of the year, potentially in San Antonio.
Rodriguez himself is open to whatever path gets him to the biggest fights. “I can’t retire without fighting Inoue,” he said. “I need to get that fight before I retire, and of course beat him, make the money and enjoy it with my family.”
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