Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez wanted to fight Junto Nakatani next.

Their teams engaged in negotiations, but Nakatani decided to give up his Ring, IBF and WBC bantamweight titles to compete in the junior featherweight division. Rodriguez then signed a contract to fight fellow undefeated 115-pound champ Fernando Martinez on November 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Ring/WBC/WBO champ is fully focused on meeting Martinez next month, but he acknowledged during an appearance on the newest episode of “Inside The Ring” that he still wants to test himself against Nakatani and the most accomplished Japanese fighter of all, Naoya Inoue.

Nakatani (31-0, 24 KOs) and Inoue (31-0, 27 KOs) are on their own collision course. They are expected to fight sometime in the first half of 2026 if Inoue, boxing’s undisputed 122-pound champion, defeats Mexico’s Alan Picasso (32-0-1, 17 KOs) and Nakatani beats another unbeaten Mexican, Sebastian Hernandez (20-0, 18 KOs), on “The Ring V: Night of the Samurai” card December 27 in Riyadh.

Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KOs) nevertheless has designs on securing fascinating fights against both big punchers who’ve thrived in higher weight classes.

“You know, my next fight was supposed to be Nakatani,” Rodriguez told co-hosts Max Kellerman and Mike Coppinger. “Things were already in the works, so you know, that just goes to show that I’m willing to fight whoever, whenever. But obviously, things didn’t go that way, so here I am fighting Martinez. But those two fights are definitely two fights that I do wanna get in my career.”

Rodriguez will first pursue undisputed status in the junior bantamweight division if he wins against Argentina’s Martinez, who owns the WBA belt. That would require Rodriguez to also beat the winner of the bout between IBF champ Willibaldo Garcia Perez (23-6-2, 13 KOs) and Kenshiro Teraji (25-2, 16 KOs) on the Inoue-Picasso undercard at Mohammed Abdo Arena.

San Antonio’s Rodriguez will move up to the bantamweight limit of 118 pounds if he fully unifies the 115-pound crowns. With Inoue and Nakatani likely to meet in a 122-pound showdown, the 25-year-old Rodriguez isn’t certain how high he’ll need to move up in weight to secure fights with either of them.

“Honestly, I’m not too sure,” Rodriguez said. “I never, you know, thought about that. I always imagined me and Inoue at 122 or Nakatani at 118. But, like you said, Nakatani, he moved up, so it’s really hard to say. But, you know, there’s a lot of time. I’m still young and got a lot to go, so there’s no rush.”

The Ring ranks Rodriguez sixth on its pound-for-pound list, three spots below the third-rated Inoue and one spot atop the seventh-ranked Nakatani.

“People have been mentioning [the Inoue] fight even before I became who I am today,” Rodriguez said. “So, I know when that fight does happen it’s gonna be huge for the sport of boxing.”

DraftKings lists Rodriguez as a 9-1 favorite to beat Martinez, The Ring’s No. 1 contender for Rodriguez’s championship. Their 12-round bout is part of a four-fight DAZN Pay-Per-View show that costs $59.99 in the United States and £24.99 in the UK.

American David Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) is set to defend his WBC light heavyweight title against England’s Anthony Yarde (27-3, 24 KOs) in the 12-round main event.