Over the weekend, Naoya Inoue defended his undisputed junior featherweight championship with a win over countryman Junto Nakatani and added yet another brick to the foundational argument that he is the current pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet.
And yet, there is at least one man whom many believe could hand Inoue, a 33-year-old 13-year professional veteran from Japan, his first career defeat.
Buzz has been building for months, and arguably years, for current unified junior bantamweight Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez to test himself against Inoue – and Rodriguez seems game. Two weight classes still separate them, but the fighters are built similarly and San Antonio’s Rodriguez is already headed up the ladder to bantamweight for his June 13 fight against Antonio Vargas.
So we asked our BoxingScene staff: If a match can be made, who wins a fight between Naoya Inoue and Bam Rodriguez?
Declan Warrington: On the evidence of the very impressive victory over Nakatani, Inoue. Rodriguez is a remarkable fighter, but Nakatani posed the greater threat to Inoue, who showed that suggestions he is in decline are premature. Like the very finest fighters, Inoue’s best performances come against his most dangerous opponents. Rodriguez is relentless, and perhaps still improving, but would somehow have to be better on his feet on the night than Inoue to make it the type of fight he would win, and that’s one of the biggest challenges of all.
Lucas Ketelle: It is hard to pick against Inoue. Rodriguez is a special fighter who one day could be the best fighter in the world, but we have yet to see him fight at bantamweight, let alone junior featherweight. As a prisoner of the moment, I will favor Inoue now, but I will also reserve judgment until after Rodriguez fights Antonio Vargas on June 13. If Rodriguez looks stellar in that bout against a bantamweight titleholder, I could easily pick the younger fighter, Rodriguez, against Inoue.
Matt Christie: If the fight happens in the next 12 months, I’d pick Inoue. Any longer than that, and Bam has had enough time to grow into the weight class, I’d pick Rodriguez. Though Inoue was tremendously impressive last weekend, I think we’re seeing signs that he has reached his ceiling. He won’t get any better. The same is not true of Rodriguez, who appears to be improving with every fight.
Elliot Worsell: Inoue, simply because he has shown in recent fights an ability to think his way through problems and be less reliant on power. I also think that Rodriguez, although an all-round better fighter than Nakatani, has a style more to Inoue’s liking and would allow Inoue to be the Inoue we all know and love. That said, with Inoue now 33 years old, it must happen sooner rather than later for Inoue to be at his best.
Jason Langendorf: My colleagues have already said it all. The answer is Inoue, for all the aforementioned reasons, though the fight has to happen soon(ish). In any case, Inoue-Rodriguez is arguably the most compelling matchup that can be made in boxing today – and, personally speaking, is the pairing I’ve anticipated most since the first Roman Gonzalez-Juan Francisco Estrada meeting in 2021.
