Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez of San Antonio has had a remarkable 2022. A year that saw him go 3-0 and go from hardcore darling to megastar who took the boxing world by storm. As a result, Rodriguez will likely win the Fighter of the Year of Award.
The Alamo City native is looking to start 2023 where 2022 left off, winning world titles. Rodriguez vacated his WBC Super Flyweight title to move back down to Flyweight, a more natural weight class. Rodriguez jumped from 108 to 115 on six days' notice and gave the performance of the year back in February when he dropped and dismantled future Hall of Famer Carlos Cuadras. He successfully defended his belt at 115 pounds twice.
Now Rodriguez will look to become a two-division world champion. It appears a deal has been reached for Rodrigues to fight Cristian Gonzalez of Mexico for the vacant WBO Flyweight title, a belt vacated by long-reigning champ Junto Nakatani last month. Rodriguez is currently ranked #1 by the organization, and Gonzalez is ranked #2. Promoter Eddie Hearn has targeted the month of March to host the fight. Reaching the deal will allow the fighters to avoid purse bids. Rodriguez was confident that the fight was going to happen. While attending Hector Tanajara's fight at the Tech Port Arena, Rodriguez said, " Yea, that fight is going to happen." It looks like that will come to fruition.
The Alamo City Native is 17-0 (11) and last fought in September when he outpointed Israel Gonzalez in the co-main event of Canelo-GGG III at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Gonzalez sports an impressive record of 15-1 (5). His lone defeat came back in 2019, a split decision loss to highly touted world title contender Angel Ayala Lardizabal in a six-round affair. Gonzalez last fought in March and blew out Juan Alejo Zuniga in the first round. His most impressive win came back in the summer of 2021 when he outpointed rigged veteran Saul Juarez.
As for the future for Rodriguez, it's still unclear what weight class he will compete at long term. Rumors have circulated that when Rodriguez wins the WBO belt, he will look to unify with IBF Flyweight champ Sunny Edwards, who has called Bam out multiple times. Rodriguez said, "we have to see how the weight cut goes." Rodriguez is still just 21 years old and his body is likely still getting bigger.