Rodriguez became a three-division world champion on Saturday night, when he beat Antonio Vargas by sixth-round knockout to win the WBA bantamweight title at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. While many hoped that’d be the final tune-up before a showdown with Inoue, the undisputed champion at 122 pounds and The Ring’s No. 1-ranked fighter pound-for-pound, Garcia pumped the brakes on that notion.

Garcia, Rodriguez’s trainer and manager, prefers a unification bout at 118 pounds against WBO titleholder Christian Medina next.

“It doesn’t matter how much money they show us out there,” Garcia said on the DAZN broadcast after Rodriguez’s victory. “One more fight is what we need, then we’ll be ready. I think we need somebody who is going to test ‘Bam’ with solid punches, not just speed. I need someone who is going to test him with one punch at a time, but a stronger fighter. There’s a couple there that would give him that test.”

Garcia also said he’d be open to Rodriguez (24-0, 17 KOs) fighting Medina on the Canelo Alvarez-Christian Mbilli undercard September 12 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, though that’d be a quick turnaround for the 26-year-old southpaw from San Antonio, Texas. Garcia added that October and early November are options for when Rodriguez returns as well.

Inoue’s younger brother, Takuma, holds the WBC bantamweight title, which also makes him an intriguing option for Rodriguez’s next fight. Garcia said he’d be open to that fight, but he believes the 26-year-old Medina’s skillset is a better fit for what he wants in Rodriguez’s next opponent.

Takuma (22-2, 5 KOs) is The Ring’s No. 2-ranked bantamweight, while Medina (27-4, 19 KOs), of Guadalajara, Mexico, is No. 4. Rodriguez, ranked fourth on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list, debuted at No. 3 in the bantamweight rankings after his win over Vargas (19-2-1, 11 KOs, 1 NC).

“I think we need to keep him active when it comes to challenges,” Garcia said. “He needs to be challenged. The better the fighters are, the better the challenge is, the better he’s going to perform. That’s why I have no doubt that he’s going to go out there and perform against [Naoya] Inoue and he’s going to beat Inoue, but I need one more fight before that.”

Inoue (33-0, 27 KOs) has held world titles in four divisions, including becoming the undisputed titleholder at bantamweight before achieving the feat at 122 pounds.

The 33-year-old Japanese superstar has gone 9-0, including six knockouts, since moving up to junior featherweight. His last three wins came by unanimous decision.

Rodriguez noting that he felt the size difference against Vargas further validated Garcia’s plan for his fighter to have two fights at 118 pounds.

“After the fight, he did tell me, ‘Look, I did feel the strength of the bigger guy,’ ” Garcia said. “Why would we go straight into another division, which is going to make a big difference? We’ve got to pace ourselves.”