Inoue's Team Shuts Down Delay, Wants Rodriguez Fight by March
Naoya Inoue's promoter says there will be no April or May timeline for the Rodriguez superfight as the Monster prepares to move up to featherweight.
Naoya Inoue's camp has officially rejected Robert Garcia's push to delay the long-anticipated superfight with Jesse Rodriguez. Promoter Hideyuki Ohashi told Hochi News that an April or May 2027 date is off the table.
"There won't be April or May," Ohashi said.
Garcia, who trains Rodriguez, had floated a spring timeline that would have given his fighter room to handle other business first. Rodriguez still has no official date for a bantamweight unification bout against Christian Medina, and without that locked in, there is no realistic path for him to fight Medina and then turn around for Inoue.
Inoue's side wants February or March 2027, and they are not waiting around. The undisputed super bantamweight champion plans to move up to featherweight at 126 pounds and is already preparing for the division jump. If Rodriguez cannot make the window, per the article, he misses his shot.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn backed the early schedule on social media. "Who's waiting? You said you were fighting in February or March, right? We're ready," Hearn posted.
The fight would be one of the biggest matchups in boxing's lower weight classes. Inoue, widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter alive, has demolished the super bantamweight division. Rodriguez, unbeaten and rising fast, represents the kind of generational talent that could actually test the Monster.
But the clock is now running. Inoue is moving up with or without Rodriguez on the other side of the ring.
This is Inoue's camp doing what Inoue's camp always does: setting the terms. And honestly, they've earned the right. The Monster has cleaned out 122 pounds so thoroughly that there's nobody left worth watching him fight there. Featherweight is the play.
Rodriguez is the only fight at bantamweight that makes the boxing world stop and pay attention. But if Bam can't get his schedule together, Inoue is not going to sit around and wait. Why would he? He has nothing left to prove at 122, and every month he delays the move to 126 is a month wasted.
I get Garcia wanting more time. Rodriguez is young and has his own career to manage. But you don't get to dictate terms to the guy who's cleaned out two weight classes. February or March, take it or leave it. If Rodriguez lets this slip, he might not get another crack at the biggest name in the sport.
