Bam Rodriguez’s team plots potential 2-fight route to Naoye Inoue showdown after Antonio Vargas win

Moments after Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez’s knockout win Saturday over Antonio Vargas in Glendale, Arizona, the fighter’s key representatives explored with reporters the likeliest route to a pound-for-pound showdown against Naoya Inoue.

Between them, the two men have scored some of the most significant wins in boxing’s modern era. As a three-weight world champion, Rodriguez has dispatched Wisaksil Wangek, Juan Francisco Estrada and Fernando Daniel Martinez, among others, in a run that has seen him put together 24 wins (17 knockouts) while remaining unbeaten.

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In that time, Japan’s Inoue has presented his own argument as the world’s best boxer, capturing titles in four divisions while racking up victories over Nonito Donaire, Stephen Fulton, and, most recently, Junto Nakatani.

With only four pounds in weight now separating new WBA bantamweight champion “Bam” from Inoue, questions before the American’s thumping win this weekend were raised as to whether he’ll fight his emerging rival — and, if so, how soon that could be.

Speaking after the sixth-round stoppage of Vargas, Bam’s promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom, and trainer-manager, Robert Garcia, shared with the media their options.

“If we don’t do it soon, we’ll probably miss the boat,” said Hearn, a reference to the probability that Inoue will soon leave super bantamweight for the featherweight confines at 126 pounds, which thus opens an eight-pound gap between the two fighters.

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“When we talked about the Inoue fight a year ago, ‘Bam’ was at 115 pounds, had just come up from 112. It looked like a bridge too far. Being at 118 1781460825, and one division away, makes it much more realistic,” Hearn said.

The promoter has long represented some of the world’s best fighters, from Anthony Joshua, to Katie Taylor, Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Dmitry Bivol, and is aware of timing, without shying away from each boxer’s best challenges.

And so the 47-year-old Hearn cannot help but consider the timing of a Rodriguez vs. Inoue fight right now, with “Bam” only recently moving from super flyweight to flyweight.

In his 118-pound debut Saturday at the Desert Diamond Arena on DAZN, “Bam” tested the taller champion’s body early, jabbed him to the skull, and kept his gloves high enough to provide a cushion to anything Vargas threw back.

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It was as early as the second round that Rodriguez buckled the legs of Vargas, held his nerve when the veteran flurried, and picked his moments. The defining moment came when he dropped Vargas in the fifth with a nasty left hand, before closing the show in the sixth when Rodriguez had Vargas rolling around on the canvas with a cute one-two he’d been rehearsing for a while, separating 29-year-old from his senses with the follow-up left hand to the jaw.

For Hearn, it’s a “disadvantage” moving to the 122-pound division after only one fight at 118. And so any forthcoming offer from Inoue’s people, likely via the sport’s financier, Turki Alalshikh, would have to presumably take that into account, Hearn hinted.

“Robert [Garcia] and ‘Bam’ have to weigh up a decision — do you do it now, or run the risk of letting it go forever,” Hearn said.

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“Bam can stay at 118 pounds [and] fight all the champions,” he added. “The move to 122 is inevitable. Is it in December, January, or is it in a year’s time? A lot depends on the offer … it’s pound-for-pound No. 1, and No. 2. A mega-fight in Japan and worldwide. If the offer is right, I think ‘Bam’ and Robert would do it.”

One option, if they were to proceed with Inoue, is to first fight the champion’s younger brother, Takuma Inoue. Hearn called the idea a “great narrative and a great story,” particularly as it’s a unification fight with Takuma holding the WBC bantamweight world title.

“A lot depends on Turki Alalshikh’s plans for Naoya Inoue, and deciding whether that fight is going to take place and whether we fight in between,” Hearn said.

But Hearn also represents Christian Medina, a 31-fight veteran who won the WBO bantamweight belt in 2025 with a fourth-round knockout win over Yoshiki Takei before defending it against Adrian Curiel in Mexico earlier this year.

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Rodriguez vs. Medina is an in-house Matchroom fight to make, and is something Hearn — and Garcia — are both eager to book.

“Even before the [Vargas] fight, that’s the plan the team has,” said Garcia of a fight between his two boxers.

Considering “Bam” is still a new entrant at bantamweight, Garcia would ideally like “to get another fight [in the division],” he said.

“Medina is very strong. It would be a great test so hopefully we get something going before the end of the year [in] San Antonio,” Garcia said.

If you ask Rodriguez who he wants, the answer is simple — anyone, anytime, any place.

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“I am capable of beating anyone that the team puts in front of me,” he said post-fight. “Money is important but legacy is important as well.

“I can’t retire without fighting Inoue,” Rodriguez added. “I need to get that fight before I retire, and of course beat him, make the money and enjoy it with my family.”