Boxing
Naoya Inoue tipped for super-bout with pound-for-pound star as Eddie Hearn moots potential date
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A super-bout between Naoya Inoue and Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez would be a "hell of a fight", with Eddie Hearn mooting a potential 2026 dance.
'The Monster' floated a potential clash with the American following his victory over Alan Picasso at The Ring V: Night of the Samurai in Riyadh.
Unified at super-flyweight two divisions below the Japanese star, Rodriguez's pound-for-pound glory has often drawn comparisons between the two.
Speaking afterwards, Hearn paid tribute to Inoue's performance and teased the idea of a matchup with 'Bam', suggesting the latter could win too.
"[He] is just too good,” he told The Ring. “He's so cold under pressure, played with Picasso at times. I think [Inoue-Rodriguez] is a hell of a fight.
"He's a fantastic fighter but I am watching and thinking [that] I like Jesse's chances. Maybe this time next year we could be looking at that fight.
"It's difficult to pick holes in Inoue. I would have liked to see him step on it a little bit more, but he did it with ease against a good fighter in Picasso.
"That's two straight points wins now. There'll be other fighters now who think they'll do well against him. It's interesting to see what the future holds."
Inoue-Rodriguez clash intrigues, but waiting list grows
DAZN News correspondent Andrew Steel
Tongues were set wagging a few times by Eddie Hearn during his latest Riyadh Season trip, not least because he sat with Oleksandr Usyk at ringside.
Shortly after Naoya Inoue admitted he was open to facing Jesse Rodriguez, the Matchroom boss was all too happy to play up a potential blockbuster.
Certainly, a clash between the two pound-for-pound stars would intrigue - but fight fans best not get their hopes up quite yet for a contest between them.
Inoue seems surely set to face Junto Nakatani in a major homecoming, while stars such as Nick Ball have been repeatedly knocking on his door too.
Rodriguez meanwhile remains two divisions below - and with the Japanese star unwilling to move from his current weight, he has plenty of ground to gain.
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