Everyone wants to see Naoya Inoue take on Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, it seems. Turki Alalshikh wants it. Eddie Hearn wants it. Rodriguez and Inoue are said to be very keen, too. However, Antonio Vargas, who takes on Rodriguez on June 13, does not want it and, furthermore, will not allow it.
“At first it seemed like they were overlooking me, but at the same time, it gives me a fire,” Vargas, 19-1-1 (11 KOs), told FightHype. “As long as I go do what I got to do on June 13, after I beat him, there is no way he is going to be able to fight Inoue.”
The 29-year-old, who’s based in Kissimmee, Florida and is coming off a 12-round draw with Daigo Higa, will be a big underdog to beat “Bam”, one of the best in the sport. But fighters not expected to win rarely see things that way. They know what they can do and, thus, what appears a difficult task to the outside world is anything but to the fighter tasked with orchestrating the upset.
“With [Rodriguez], I just think that it is just going to come down to the timing and the adjustments. Every fighter has a rhythm, every fighter has a different timing, so it’s just figuring that timing out and making sure I land the bigger and cleaner shots.”
Vargas fears that the appetite for Rodriguez to win, which in turn would set up the Inoue showdown, means that he could get favors on fight night. Hence why he’s planning on taking matters into his own hands.
“I do believe that I am either going to have to knock him out or put him down a couple of times to make sure that the fight goes in my favor.
“[Rodriguez] is a big name, he is the favorite to win. If the fight is close, which I am hoping it’s not, I think they’ll gravitate more towards him, so I’m, definitely going in there expecting to put him down.”
