Naoya Inoue vs Jesse Rodriguez mega fight booked for £352m stadium as record eyed

Organisers are hatching plans for Naoya Inoue and Jesse Rodriguez to meet in a highly anticipated bout at a stunning stadium in Fukuoka, Japan.

The Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka, home to the baseball team SoftBank Hawks, has been tentatively booked to host the super fight in February next year.

AFP

That is according to Japanese publication Ronspo, which also reports that the iconic Tokyo Dome remains in play should the bout be pushed back to March.

The £352million Mizuho PayPay Dome is one of Japan’s most impressive venues and comes complete with a retractable roof and multiple LED screens wrapping right around the outfield.

It would mark the first time the Dome has been used for boxing, and while it traditionally seats 40,000 people, its large open field means it can squeeze even more in around the ring.

In 1993, a New Japan Pro-Wrestling event held there drew 55,000 spectators, and Saudi powerbroker Turki Alalshikh is hoping to top that, as he eyes the all-time Japanese boxing attendance record.

Inoue broke the record in his last outing against Junto Nakatani in May when they sold out the 55,000-capacity Tokyo Dome, generating a massive £23.4 million live gate in the process.

How much money are Inoue and Rodriguez projected to earn?

Both Inoue and Rodriguez are expected to pocket record purses for the bout, provided it gets over the line.

‘Bam’ has a projected payday of 1billion yen (£4.632m), which is significantly more than his highest-known reported purse of $1.2 million (£891,000) for his fight against Juan Francisco Estrada in 2024.

As the A-side, Inoue will reportedly receive around 5 billion yen (£23.15m).

Riyadh Season have already made an offer for the fight.

However, former unified super flyweight king Rodriguez is planning to have one more fight at bantamweight in October or November before moving up to face Inoue for his undisputed super bantamweight crown.

Amanda Westcott/Matchroom

Getty

Inoue has set a strict deadline of March for the fight to take place, as he intends to move up to featherweight next year in pursuit of world titles in a fifth division.

“I’m not fixated on fighting Bam, so if Bam says he wants to continue fighting in the bantamweight division, I’m also considering a featherweight challenge,” Inoue recently told Yahoo Japan.

Responding to Inoue’s comments, Rodriguez’s trainer Robert Garcia told Ring Magazine on Wednesday: “There’s been talk that Inoue says he’s moving up [to featherweight] sooner than later – that he probably won’t wait [for the Rodriguez fight] past March of next year.

“We’re okay with that, but nobody’s told me that.

“Nobody from Inoue’s team has approached me saying, ‘Look, Robert. This is what Inoue wants. He wants to know if you guys are interested in the fight’.

“Yeah, we’re interested in the fight. But I’m not trying to change the date. I would love Bam to get one more fight at 118[lbs].”

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