Naoya Inoue’s next moves remain shrouded in mystery. Some believe the Japanese superstar will wait until Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez is ready to challenge him for the super bantamweight throne, while others are convinced he will soon make yet another move up in weight in search of glory at featherweight. Should that happen, current WBA world champion Brandon Figueroa would be ready to offer him a title shot.
Figueroa, 29, captured the belt in February, when he surprisingly knocked out local hero Nick Ball at Liverpool’s Echo Arena in the twelfth and final round of an intense and thrilling fight.
The American had already been a world champion at super bantamweight, where he unified the WBA and WBC belts before falling short in his bid to add the WBO title, which at the time was held by his nemesis Stephen Fulton.
Inoue, who currently sits at No. 1 in The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings, is the reigning unified super bantamweight champion, having collected all four major world titles one after another. His résumé also includes a devastating knockout victory over the same Fulton who defeated Figueroa twice.
Despite that, “The Heartbreaker” would be more than willing to face “The Monster,” although he must first get past another Japanese fighter, veteran Tomoki Kameda, who will attempt to dethrone him in Las Vegas on October 17.
Here is what Figueroa had to say about a possible future fight with Inoue:
“Come October 17th, I’m gonna stamp why I am the best 126-pounder. Welcome to the 126-pound division. And I’m more than willing to welcome him into it. And I’m not looking past Tomoki. I know he’s a great fighter, a very experienced fighter.
“I’m ready to fight whoever. I wanna fight the best. For me, it’s not necessarily the belts or the championship or the achievements — it’s my résumé, who I fought, and I feel like that’s the most important thing for me.”