Naoya Inoue-Bam Rodriguez talks ‘moving along well,’ says Hideyuki Ohashi

Negotiations for a contest between Naoya Inoue and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez are moving along well, according to Inoue’s promoter Hideyuki Ohashi.

It looked like the opportunity to see the two pound-for-pound stars in the ring together had passed by when Inoue, the undisputed 118lbs champion, announced in a social media that he was tired of waiting on a bout with Rodriguez and moving on to the featherweight division.

Robert Garcia, Rodriguez’s trainer and manager, had made it clear that his preference was for his fighter to compete in one more contest at bantamweight before heading north to face Inoue. That request was rejected by Inoue and his team, who made it clear that Rodriguez skip an interim and face Inoue in March or miss out on the lucrative contest.

Garcia and Rodriguez’s promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, told BoxingScene last week that they were happy to accept Inoue’s terms and were awaiting an offer from their side. Inoue’s US manager, John Lewis, last week also told The Ring’s Mike Coppinger that they were in talks with Matchroom over a deal for Rodriguez to face Inoue.

During a press conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, Ohashi also confirmed that talks were ongoing for the bout to take place in Tokyo in March 2027.

"Negotiations for Inoue’s next fight are moving forward, step by step," Ohashi told reporters. "Everything is going well. We are working toward a match in March. Things are progressing steadily, so please look forward to it."

On Garcia’s comments to BoxingScene last week, demanding that Inoue “send the fucking contract”, Ohashi responded: "That’s not how it works. He’s mistaken. He clearly doesn't know how this goes – these discussions are happening at the promoter level, not with the trainer."