“There was pressure not to lose. It was a tense fight, so I’m relieved to have won,\u201d Inoue said during his post-fight press conference. “My boxing career isn’t at the end. We just finished the fight, so I think I’m going to have great history in the future. I hope I can make history, more and more.”<\/p>\n
Whether or not Inoue (33-0, 27 KOs) has reached his ceiling at junior featherweight remains to be seen. His last nine fights over three years have taken place at 122 pounds, and the last three have resulted in unanimous decisions. <\/p>\n
Inoue has teased a featherweight run for the last couple of years but never fully committed to the move despite cleaning out the competition at 122. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
But Jesse Rodriguez might be the last big bite that presents considerable danger to Inoue, whenever he decides to move up.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez (23-0, 16 KOs) is set to make his 118-pound debut next month against Antonio Vargas in Glendale, Arizona. Rodriguez holds The Ring, WBA, WBC and WBO titles at 115. <\/p>\n
Turki Alalshikh made his intentions clear Saturday after Inoue beat Nakatani that he\u2019s interested in staging a fight between \u201cBam\u201d and \u201cThe Monster\u201d as early as January in Japan. <\/p>\n
\u201cOf course [I would fight Rodriguez], but it is all about the timing,\u201d Inoue told The Ring\u2019s Mike Coppinger from his dressing room at Tokyo Dome after beating Nakatani. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Rodriguez is also game for a career-defining fight that has been years in the making.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that fight was presented to me now, I\u2019d definitely go and take it,\u201d Rodriguez told The Ring CEO Rick Reeno last month on the Mr. Verzace Podcast. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think me against Inoue would definitely be one of the biggest fights in the lower weight divisions \u2026 I love going to Japan anyways, so if I were to fight out there for the first time, that would be great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring\u2019s lead writer. Follow him on X<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>: @ManoukAkopyan<\/p>\n