Every time Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez 20-0 (13) steps into the ring, fight fans are reminded of what special talent this young man is.
The lighter weight classes often don’t get the attention that they deserve, from fans or the media. But performances like the one the 24-year-old Rodriguez from San Antonio, Texas delivered against Juan Francisco Estrada 44-4 (28) on Saturday night demand our attention.
Rodriguez was challenging for the Ring Magazine and WBC super flyweight titles held by Mexican Estrada, 34. The southpaw challenger showed veteran poise, picking his punches wisely and using his clever footwork and angles to gain maximum purchase on his shots.
A left cross from Rodriguez sent Estrada down in the fourth round as he appeared to be taking over the fight, but the champion responded with a knockdown of his own in the sixth when he connected with a right hand to the jaw.
The fight would not last much longer. Late in the seventh Rodriguez got himself in position to throw a powerful body shot that landed flush on the liver. Estrada went down. This time, he did not get up.
With the win Rodriguez adds the name of another top-flight fighter to his list of victims that already includes Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Carlos Cuadras and Sunny Edwards.
“I’m the legend slayer,” said Rodriguez. “The better the opponent, the better I perform, I’ve always felt that way. It was just a matter of time until the world saw it.
“I’ve been saying that I’m here at 115lbs for two or three fights, I know that there is a rematch clause with Estrada so if he wants to go through with that then we can run it back. If not, I want the winner of Kazuto Ioka and Fernando Martinez. It’s a great fight, I think Ioka might be a little too technical for Martinez so he’ll come out with the victory.
“I would love to fight in Japan. I’ve been out there a few times, I’ve been to the boxing out there and it’s a different atmosphere so I would love to go there and fight whoever.
“Estrada is a legend and a warrior and he’s going to want to come back and try to beat me, but I am only getting better from here on out.”
The scorecards were a cause for controversy when they were revealed after the fight. Judge Steve Morrow had Rodriguez leading 58-54 at the time of the stoppage, but judge Javier Camacho disagreed. He had Estrada up 57-56. Judge Robert Tapper had the bout even, 56-56.
“The scorecards are pretty crazy to me,” Rodriguez said. “I thought that I was dominating the fight, even in the round I got dropped in I came back and finished the round pretty strong, so the cards were shocking to me but that’s boxing, that’s the way it goes and it was a good job I got him out of there.
“When I got dropped, I got too careless. [Trainer] Robert [Garcia] was telling me even the round before to stay calm and keep doing what I was doing, but I got too comfortable to be honest, and I got caught with a great shot.
“It was a flash knockdown, I knew that when I was going down, I was smiling and just got back up and stuck to the game plan, it’s just a learning experience.”
Rodriguez believes he has earned the right to be on the list of the top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the world.
“It’s my best win so far. As I said, he’s a legend, was on the pound-for-pound rankings for a very long time so to go out there and dominate him the way that I did – it says a lot about my performance and my talents,” Rodriguez said.
“I didn’t really care about the pound-for-pound list at first, but when I was put on it, it happened after I beat Sunny Edwards and it felt better than winning the fight. So staying on the pound-for-pound list along with the other great fighters is an honour. Before the fight moving up that list was talked about, especially if I stopped him, and I’m definitely in the top five pound-for-pound.
“I’ve fought in Arizona three times now, this is the biggest one. Phoenix holds a special place in my heart, I love fighting here and the atmosphere was crazy.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said there should be more respect put on Rodriguez’s name.
“The problem with the lower weight classes is they often don’t get the respect of the higher ones. For me, Jesse should be mentioned with Terence Crawford, [Naoya] Inoue, [Oleksandr] Usyk,” the Matchroom Boxing chief said.
“He’s gone through Cuadras, gone through Rungvisai, stopped Edwards, KO’d Estrada. He’s already on the pound-for-pound list, but I think he is top five pound-for-pound now. He’s 24-years-old, he has another four or five years of his prime, and we’re honoured to represent him.
“You saw the crowd in there – we’re in Phoenix, not in San Antonio, and as many Mexicans as there were in there, Bam had huge support and he’s a real star. The rematch is there, there’s opportunities in Japan, there’s opportunities to go back to San Antonio and also to come back to Phoenix.
“The future is bright, he wants to try unify the division. ‘El Gallo’ has the option to rematch and we’ll see how that plays out.”
