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<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Garcia reacted after comments from Rudy Hernandez suggested Bam would need to go through Nakatani first, following Nakatani\u2019s loss to Inoue at the Tokyo Dome last weekend. Garcia pointed out that Nakatani himself did not have to beat any of Inoue\u2019s previous opponents before getting his title shot.<\/p>\n \u201cSo to fight Inoue, we have to earn it by beating Junto, who is Inoue\u2019s last opponent. Which one of Inoue\u2019s opponents did Junto beat to earn the fight?\u201d Robert Garcia posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Robert trains the 26-year-old former two-division world champion Bam Rodriguez and has been vocal about wanting the Inoue fight directly. The matchup has become one of the biggest possible fights in the lower weight divisions after Inoue defeated Nakatani in front of a sold-out crowd in Tokyo.<\/p>\n Garcia also brought up Sebastian Hernandez, who many fans believed deserved a rematch with Nakatani after their close fight in December 2025. Rudy Hernandez admitted after the Inoue loss that mistakes had been made in the corner during the fight.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if we\u2019re talking about being honorable and doing rematches Sebastian Hernandez would like a word. Do the honorable thing Rudy,\u201d said Robert.<\/p>\n Garcia\u2019s comments reflect frustration from Bam\u2019s side over the idea of adding another hurdle before an Inoue fight. From his point of view, the Nakatani-Inoue fight was made without Nakatani having to clear that kind of requirement himself.<\/p>\n Robert Garcia questioned why Jesse \u201cBam\u201d Rodriguez (23-0, 16 KOs) would need to beat Junto Nakatani to secure a fight with Naoya Inoue. Garcia pointed out that Nakatani did not defeat any of Inoue\u2019s previous opponents before getting his own shot. Garcia also mentioned Sebastian Hernandez, saying Nakatani\u2019s team should honor a rematch before talking about \u201cearning\u201d opportunities.<\/p>\n Robert Segal is a boxing journalist at Boxing News 24 with more than a decade of experience covering fight news, previews, and analysis. Known for his straightforward reporting and ringside perspective, he delivers authoritative coverage of champions, contenders, and emerging talent worldwide.<\/p>\n Click here to subscribe to our FREE newsletter<\/a>Related Boxing News:<\/p>\n \t\t\tCategories Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez<\/a>, Naoya Inoue<\/a> \t\t<\/p>\n Boxing News 24<\/a> \u00bb Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez<\/a> \u00bb Robert Garcia Rejects Junto Nakatani Requirement for Bam<\/p>\n Last Updated on 2026\/05\/08 at 4:57 PM \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robert Garcia does not believe Jesse \u201cBam\u201d Rodriguez should have to beat Junto Nakatani to earn a fight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-659153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Add](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/google.png\"\/)
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