Boxing
The sooner, the better for Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez to challenge Naoya 'The Monster' Inoue in a mega fight
Zayas vs. Ennis: Watch only on DAZN PPV - June 27
Just as the San Antonio Spurs lost their bid to become NBA champions, Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez made sure at least one hometown hero exited Saturday night with a new world title in tow.
After dropping Antonio Vargas with a left hook in the fifth round, Rodriguez stabbed to the body and detonated a right-left combination to produce an emphatic sixth-round knockout in becoming the new WBA bantamweight world titleholder. The thrilling victory at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, and live on DAZN, also made the 26-year-old San Antonio, Texas native a three-division world champion.
Just like that, it couldn’t be any more pressing — ‘Bam’ Rodriguez needs to challenge Naoya ‘The Monster’ Inoue … and the sooner the mega fight is made, the better.
Pound-for-pound phenom against pound-for-pound force — it’s arguably the best bout that boxing could conjure and it’s here for the making.
When DAZN’s Chris Mannix asked a victorious Rodriguez if he’s ready for Inoue, ‘Bam’ simply responded with: “I’m ready for whoever, whenever.”
His Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said it’s only a matter of time.
“The inevitable fight will get made,” Hearn vowed. “It’s just a case of when.”
He added: “We’ve already made what I think is the biggest fight in the sport this year between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. The next biggest fight in the sport — no doubt — is ‘Bam’ against Naoya Inoue.”
Another option is for Hearn and team ‘Bam’ to line up a unification at bantamweight against WBO titleholder Christian Medina for more legwork in the 118-pound division. Rodriguez' trainer Robert Garcia is in favor of his charge having one more fight before making the jump up to Inoue and he knows 'Bam' better than any fan or critic alike.
But I believe he's ready for ‘The Monster’ now. 'Bam' needs to be challenged and even threatened to unlock his full potential, and Inoue presents that tenfold. The task would force Rodriguez to become a monster to defeat one. It’s the fight everyone wants to see and Saturday night’s temperature gauge had Rodriguez blasting his way through adversity with a roar.
In his bantamweight debut after vacating his unified super flyweight titles, Rodriguez faced some early turbulence from Vargas who used patience and timing to steadily touch him and split his guard like we haven’t been accustomed to seeing.
However, ‘Bam’ dramatically altered any momentum Vargas accrued by doing what he does best — setting opponents up with superb footwork, slashing angles and creativity.
Rodriguez bundled all those components to uncork a raucous left hook that dropped Vargas with a delayed reaction during the fifth round.
Though Vargas made it to his feet and courageously fought his way to survive the fifth, ‘Bam’ ensured the finishing touches were next.
At 1:15 into the sixth, Rodriguez dipped down to the body and unleashed a lightning-quick right-left combo upstairs to swivel Vargas’ jaw and put him down for good in a scintillating knockout that begs for a meeting with ‘The Monster.’
Inoue, the undefeated, undisputed super bantamweight world champion, would present Rodriguez with the task of stopping the Japanese sensation to not only snatch his titles and reign as boxing’s pound-for-pound best, but to also become the face of the sport.
In an interview during the buildup to his flattening of Vargas, Rodriguez told me that the face of boxing “is up for grabs,” but that “it’s going to be a little difficult” to attain due to his smaller weight class.
Well, taming ‘The Monster’ convincingly with some ‘Bam’ would do it and I think it's something he does resoundingly.
I just hope for boxing’s sake, the fight is made sooner than later.
