Naoya Inoue welcomes ‘Bam’ Rodriguez clash but Junto Nakatani showdown looms

Naoya Inoue has said he is open to a fight with fellow pound-for-pound talent Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, although an all-Japanese clash with Junto Nakatani is seemingly still next.

On Saturday, Inoue headlined a card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which also featured Nakatani, with the idea being that a victory for each man would set up a much-desired showdown in 2026.

Nakatani, making his super-bantamweight debut after giving up his bantamweight belts, started well against Sebastian Hernandez Reyes but was dragged into a war.

Still, the 27-year-old outpointed the Mexican with scorecards of 115-113, 115-113 and 118-110, although the latter proved highly controversial.

Then it was over to Inoue, who dominated Alan Picasso to retain the undisputed super-bantamweight titles, earning scores of 120-108, 117-111 and 119-109.

With those results, Inoue, 32, and Nakatani stayed unbeaten. Meanwhile, Hernandez and Picasso each suffered his first defeat as a professional.

open image in gallery

After fighting, Inoue was asked about a potential super-fight with super-flyweight king Rodriguez, and said: “When he's ready, can fight at junior-featherweight [super-bantamweight], and the timing is perfect for each other, I would love for him to wait to challenge me.”

Meanwhile, Nakatani said: “My goal is to become No 1 world champion in the pound-for-pound rankings, so that’s the reason I have moved up to this weight class. If I’m not able to fight Mr Inoue, I will feel really sad, however my goal and aim will not be swayed by whatever he decides to do.

“I was very impressed by his timing, his defence, and his movement was quite sharp, too. Also, I felt that Picasso was very brave throughout the fight.

open image in gallery

“I fought 12 rounds and it was really tough, but I managed to fight throughout the 12 rounds. It was my first time up in a heavier class and it was good for my experience, and it will be really good for the future of my career.

“I feel like this is the real fight of this weight class [against Inoue]. How much do I have to improve? I have something burning in my heart, so you can please wait to see that.

“I felt a lot of endurance from my opponent, and if the fight was at bantamweight, I could have finished him.”