Naoya Inoue-Emmanuel Rodriguez reportedly set for May 18th

If Emmanuel Rodriguez’s manager, Juan Orengo, is to be believed, the May 18th Glasgow card headlined by Josh Taylor vs. Ivan Baranchyk both exists and will see his fighter take on Naoya Inoue in the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight semifinals.

This news must, of course, be taken with an entire spice rack’s worth of salt. Baranchyk announced his withdrawal from the tournament on January 30th, only for the organization to announce the Taylor bout one day later. The WBSS has not been subtle about their expectations for Baranchyk to compete due to their investment, so there’s really no telling how this will all end.

In any event, Inoue (17-0, 15 KO) vs. Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KO) remains a phenomenal fight between two of the top four bantamweights on the planet. Let’s hope they can make it happen without too many lawyers getting involved.

And congrats, by the way, to Inoue for winning Japanese Fighter of the Year.