Naoya Inoue begins featherweight preparations as Robert Garcia targets spring 2027 for Bam Rodriguez fight

Naoya Inoue has begun preparing for a move to featherweight while Robert Garcia works towards an April or May 2027 fight between the Japanese champion and Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez.

“I’m not gonna sit around waiting for Bam, so I’m starting prep for featherweight too,” Inoue wrote on X, according to the platform’s English translation.

Inoue, the undisputed super-bantamweight champion, has not ruled out facing Rodriguez. His alternative is to move to 126lbs and pursue a world title in a fifth weight division if the proposed fight cannot be arranged within his preferred timetable.

Garcia, Rodriguez’s trainer and manager, wants the WBA bantamweight champion to fight once more at 118lbs before challenging Inoue. He told Fight Hub on Saturday that WBO champion Christian ‘Chispa’ Medina was his preferred opponent before the end of the year, although the fight has yet to be confirmed.

Rodriguez won the WBA title on his bantamweight debut when he stopped Antonio Vargas in six rounds on June 13. Garcia wants another opportunity to assess him at the weight before moving him up to 122lbs, with April or May now viewed as a suitable window for the Inoue fight. February or March had previously been discussed.

Eddie Hearn has also been working to place Rodriguez on the proposed Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury card in Cardiff on December 11. Garcia said Hearn had given him positive indications, but he was still waiting for confirmation when he spoke to Fight Hub.

Rodriguez has already started training, with Garcia seeking an eight-to-10-week camp. If the Cardiff date does not materialise, Garcia expects Hearn and DAZN to find another opportunity before the end of the year because Rodriguez is contractually due another fight.

Inoue unwilling to wait indefinitely

A December appearance would give Rodriguez a short turnaround for a February or March challenge against Inoue. Delaying the fight until April or May would allow him more time to prepare, but would also require Inoue to remain at super-bantamweight longer than he may wish.

In an August interview with The Ring, Inoue identified Rodriguez as his leading remaining attraction at 122lbs. He also made clear that he was prepared to move up if the fight could not be arranged.

Inoue has not fought since defeating Junto Nakatani by unanimous decision at the Tokyo Dome on May 2. After boxing four times in 2025, that has been his only appearance this year. He said the break allowed him to recover mentally from the prolonged build-up to the Nakatani fight, rather than being taken simply to wait for Rodriguez, and added that he could have returned in October or November had he chosen to do so.

The proposed Inoue-Rodriguez fight has drawn interest from Saudi boxing financier Turki Alalshikh, Netflix and DAZN, but no agreement has been reached.

The Ring reported in May that Alalshikh was planning a January event in Japan and wanted to stage the fight in a stadium, with the aim of challenging the country’s boxing attendance record. Hearn subsequently confirmed discussions involving Alalshikh and Netflix, before saying in July that DAZN had also asked him to begin negotiations. At that stage, however, Hearn cautioned that the interest had not produced substantial progress.

Those talks have taken place amid wider questions about the level of Saudi investment in boxing. Hearn was reported on October 1 as saying that spending had slowed and that its previous pace could not be sustained, although there has been no confirmed link between that change and the delay in arranging Inoue-Rodriguez.

Garcia’s plan remains for Rodriguez to have another bantamweight fight before moving up to face Inoue in April or May. Inoue must now decide whether to accommodate that schedule or continue towards featherweight.