Eddie Hearn Has No Doubt About Inoue vs Rodriguez Fight Location

If Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez hopes to fulfill all boxing fans' wishes and finally fight ‘The Monster’ Naoya Inoue, then he is going to have to do it soon, and behind enemy lines, according to his promoter.

The pair have been circling each other in the eyes of the boxing world for years now, but with Inoue set to make a move to featherweight, Rodriguez, says Eddie Hearn, will have to make his move before the Japanese champion is out of reach.

Eddie Hearn has no doubts where Inoue vs Rodriguez would take place

Jesse Rodriguez stands over Pedro Guevara | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

For that reason, when asked if that fight was going to be in Japan, Eddie Hearn responded with absolute certainty.

"Yes. Without a shadow of a doubt"
Eddie Hearn told BoxingScene

The Mexican, 23-0 (16), is making his first move towards his pound-for-pound rival by stepping up to his old stomping grounds, bantamweight, and taking on the WBA champion, Antonio Vargas, on June 13, which Hearn gave him huge credit for.

“I represent Vargas as well, so it’s not really fair to start talking about that fight [Inoue-Bam], but people are going to talk about that fight because they’ve talked about it for years," Hearn explained to BoxingScene.

“And with him [Rodriguez] moving up another weight class, it gives them even more reason to talk about it. And I think if he wins on June 13, I think it’s inevitable. Bam is an incredible young man, where he wants to move so quick. He’s not someone that wants to be around having loads of voluntary defenses and fighting in eight years’ time. He wants to get in now.

"He feels like right now he's in his absolute prime, which he is. So, I think that he's got to try and beat Vargas, which is not going to be easy. And if he does that and he feels good at 118lbs, you’ve got to hurry up and make the Inoue fight, because sooner or later Inoue will move to 126lbs and then it will be over.”

Naoya Inoue throws a right hand against Ramon Cardenas | Mikey Williams/Top Rank

Inoue, 33-0 (27), is coming off an impressive unanimous decision win over compatriot rival Junto Nakatani at the Tokyo Dome, which is being hailed as one of, if not the, biggest fights in the history of Japanese Boxing.

Having become undisputed champion at super bantamweight over two years ago and defended those titles seven times since, the clock is ticking on a potential departure to featherweight, which Inoue has called his final destination in boxing. It therefore remains to be seen if he will move up, or if he will wait for Rodriguez and the mega payday he would bring.

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