By Keith Idec
PHILADELPHIA – Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez hasn’t moved up to the 118-pound division yet, but the unbeaten WBC super flyweight champion understands that the biggest fight for him will be contested two divisions above where he currently competes.
The San Antonio native envisions boxing in the 122-pound weight class by sometime early in 2026. At some point soon thereafter, Rodriguez expects to fight the winner of the highly anticipated showdown between Japanese champions Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani.
Top Rank founder Bob Arum, whose company co-promotes Inoue and Nakatani, told Boxing News recently that Inoue-Nakatani will be the biggest fight in Japanese boxing history. Assuming Nakatani, who owns the WBO 118-pound championship, moves up from the bantamweight division and both boxers continue to win, Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) and Nakatani (29-0, 22 KOs) could fight for Inoue’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 122-pound crowns within the second half of 2025.
Rodriguez predicted during a recent interview with Boxing News that Inoue will defeat Nakatani, which would enable the strong southpaw to secure his own encounter with Inoue if he, too, keeps winning.
“Really, the hype’s already there,” Rodriguez said. “A lotta people speak about it already, so I feel like if I continue what I’m doing, eventually the fight will happen.”
Like Inoue, Rodriguez has established himself as one of the best boxers, pound-for-pound, in the sport.
Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs) dropped Mexican contender Pedro Guevara (42-5-1, 22 KOs) twice during the third round and stopped him on the Jaron Ennis-Karen Chukhadzhian undercard Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center. Inoue is scheduled to defend his four titles against Australia’s Sam Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) on December 24 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
Nakatani, a taller southpaw with more power, will give Inoue more difficulty than Goodman, according to Rodriguez.
“I mean, that’s a really tough fight,” Rodriguez said. “Inoue is a great fighter. Nakatani is a great fighter as well. But I feel Inoue might have a little edge on the experience part, so I feel like maybe that might play a part. I really think Inoue would win that fight, if it were to happen right now.”
Japan’s Junto Nakatani (L) fights against Mexico’s Alexandro Santiago during their WBC Bantam Weight championship boxing bout in Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on February 24, 2024. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP) (Photo by PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)
As Inoue and Nakatani continue on their collision course, Rodriguez will focus on securing a title unification fight in the 115-pound division and/or moving up three pounds to land a bantamweight title shot.
“Hopefully, I can get a unification fight at 115 early next year, seeing how the division plays out with that,” Rodriguez said. “And if not, I’ll move up to 118 to start my journey there in mid-2025. There’s a lotta fights that can be made at 118, so I mean, there’s a lotta time [to move up to 122 pounds]. I’m only 24 years old. I still have a lotta fights to go, so there’s really no rush for that.”