Robert Garcia, the longtime trainer of Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez, talks to Fight Hype about a proposed showdown between the heavyweights of the lighter divisions, with Bam taking on Naoya Inoue. Here, Garcia says Inoue’s team have been putting on the pressure to make that fight sooner than later, and they just might get their wish.
“I don’t think Inoue is ducking [Bam] but I do think he is pressuring it to happen now, and he might get away with it. As of now, you know, I still haven’t got a date for Bam this
year, so they’re pushing it…It looks like he’s pressuring the promoters and the media to force us to get into the fight and there’s a reason why.
“He knows the more he waits, the easier it gets for Bam. He’s 34, 35, he’s had many training camps, he’s been dropped a few times. He makes mistakes, also.
“I also wanted another fight [in between] but…we can go straight into the fight, 100%…Inoue makes mistakes, I’ve been studying him. He makes mistakes and Bam is perfect to catch him on those mistakes.”
This much discussed fight has had trouble coming together for one reason or another, with fingers having been pointed at both sides at one point or another. We’ll have to see if anything tangible comes out the behind the scenes talks but it would be a marquee matchup for both fighters, needless to say.
