Naoya Inoue is now far more likely to face a fellow pound-for-pound star, but must first take care of business against Junto Nakatani on May 2.<\/p>\n
The pair will collide in an all-Japanese clash at the Tokyo Dome, with Inoue making the seventh defence of his undisputed super-bantamweight crown<\/a>.<\/p>\n But despite entering their showdown as a clear favourite, many believe that three-weight world champion Nakatani represents his toughest test thus far.<\/p>\n Like Inoue, the 28-year-old boasts an unbeaten record and comes off a successful, albeit hard-fought, super-bantamweight debut against Sebastian Hernandez in December.<\/p>\n While the result has been somewhat disputed, Nakatani ultimately claimed a unanimous decision victory on the undercard of Inoue\u2019s one-sided title defence against David Picasso.<\/p>\n But while Nakatani has certainly earned his position at the top table, some would argue that Inoue is likely to encounter his most formidable foe elsewhere.<\/p>\n More specifically, a potential clash with unified super-flyweight champion Jesse \u2018Bam\u2019 Rodriguez has been widely discussed as one of boxing\u2019s most mouth-watering matchups.<\/p>\n It was also announced just yesterday that Rodriguez will face WBA bantamweight titlist Antonio Vargas<\/a> on June 13, bidding to become a three-division world champion.<\/p>\n