Naoya Inoue has been offered another career-defining challenge before even stepping into the ring against Junto Nakatani.

First and foremost, ‘The Monster’ must defend his undisputed super-bantamweight crown against Nakatani on May 2, headlining a blockbuster Japanese event at the Tokyo Dome.

This represents Inoue’s seventh defence of his four major titles at 122lbs, with the hard-hitting sensation having become recognised as a top two pound-for-pound star.

The 33-year-old’s most notable victories have come against the likes of Luis Nery and Ramon Cardenas, who both floored the two-division undisputed champion but were ultimately stopped in rounds six and eight, respectively.

Nakatani, meanwhile, is widely regarded as Inoue’s toughest opponent thus far, despite the three-division world champion coming off a debatable points victory against Sebastian Hernandez last December.

But this, in fairness, was his first outing at 122lbs, with many expecting the 28-year-old to raise his level against Inoue.

In a world where Inoue emerges triumphant, though, it has become increasingly likely that he will explore a potential fight with Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez.

The unified super-flyweight champion will move up to 118lbs for his next outing, taking on WBA titlist Antonio Vargas on June 13.

If this next assignment proves successful, then Rodriguez has told Ring Magazine that he would jump up a further weight class to face Inoue.

“I’m ready whenever. If that fight was presented to me right now, I’d definitely go ahead and take it.”

While Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed preliminary talks for the fight, there is equally a chance that ‘Bam’ moves back down to 115lbs in pursuit of undisputed glory.

After the Kansas race, the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season heads to Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, for the Jack Link’s 500. The 10th race of the season will go live on FOX and FOX One at 3 pm ET on Sunday, April 26.

The Talladega spring race will be contested on a 2.66-mile-long superspeedway. Forty drivers will compete over 188 laps to drive down Victory Lane. FOX Sports motorsports reporter Bob Pockrass shared the starting lineup for the 2026 Jack Link’s 500.

Who is on pole for 2026 Jack Link’s 500?

Last week’s Kansas race winner, Tyler Reddick, was awarded the pole for Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 after qualifying was canceled due to rain. It marked his fifth pole of the season and 15th career Cup Series pole.

Reddick will be joined by the defending series champion Kyle Larson on the front row.

NASCAR set the starting lineup by the rulebook’s qualifying metric, meaning Reddick will lead the field to the green flag due to his performance at Kansas last weekend. The rulebook for 2026 has changed a bit, as now it’s just an average of the car’s place in the Cup owner standings (30%) and the entry’s finish in the most recent race (70%).

The pair will be followed by Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, and Chase Briscoe in the top-five. Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.

The defending winner of the event, Austin Cindric, will start 13th on Sunday.

2026 Jack Link’s 500 starting line-up

Below is the complete starting lineup for the 40-car grid at the Talladega Superspeedway:

1. #45 Tvler Reddick
2. #5 Kvle Larson
3. #11 Denny Hamlin
4. #23 Bubba Wallace
5. #19 Chase Briscoe
6. #6 Brad Keselowski
7. #24 William Byron
8. #9 Chase Elliott
9. #54 Ty Gibbs
10. #17 Chris Buescher
11. #60 Rvan Preece
12. #77 Carson Hocevar
13. #2 Austin Cindric
14. #20 Christopher Bell
15. #12 Rvan Blanev
16. #7 Daniel Suarez
17. #35 – Rilev Herbst
18. #3 Austin Dillon
19. #34 Todd Gilliland
20. #48 Alex Bowman
21. #43 Erik Jones
22. #47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
23. #42 John Hunter Nemech
24. #1 Ross Chastain
25. #22 Joey Logano
26. #21 Josh Berry
27. #41 Cole Custer
28. #16 A.J Allmendinger
29. #4 Noah Gragson
30. #38 Zane Smith
31. #71 Michael McDowell
32. #88 Connor Zilisch
33. #97 Shane Van Gisbergen
34. #8 Kyle Busch
35. #10 Ty Dillon
36. #51 Cody Ware
37. #33 Jesse Lovelin
38. #66 Chad Finchum(i)
39. #44 – Joev Gaseli)
40. #78 – Daniel Dye(i)

Watch all NASCAR Cup Series teams and drivers at the Talladega Superspeedway for Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500.