Bam Rodriguez scored a sensational seventh-round KO as he moved his record to 20-0 (13), slayed his third ring legend, in Juan Francisco Estrada, of Sonora, Mexico, and made a serious bid to be a top 5 pound-for-pound fighter in this universe. Rodriguez dominated the scheduled seven-rounder at their footprint center in Phoenix, Arizona, besides being dropped in the sixth-round, a knockdown that seemed to serve as a wake-up call as the Texan seized control of the fight again as soon as he got up. A beautiful straight right hand dropped the Texan, who immediately got up and laughed it off. Rodriguez seemed unfazed, but the shot was clean. The Alamo City native scored a knockdown of his own in the fourth with a clean three-piece that was finished with a straight left and with a ring legend on the canvas. That came after a brilliant third round for the two-division world champion. Rodriguez picks up the WBC super flyweight title, a belt he won in the very same building in February of 2022, and defended two times before vacating the belt to move down to 112 pounds. He also improved his record to 20-0 (13), and the legendary Estrada fell to 44-4 (28), this was the first stoppage loss of his legendary career.
Estrada has a rematch clause that he can exercise and likely will. That fight is tentatively scheduled for the fall. If that fight falls through Rodriguez, expressed interest in fighting with Kaz Ioka, who holds two of the other three belts in the 115-pound division. He also has a win over Bam's big brother, Josh Franco in 2023. A fight that proved to be the last of Franco's career who reconfirmed his retirement to me on Friday. "I am not fighting again," Franco said when asked if he was "done, done?" Franco considered a comeback late last year. As for Rodriguez, his path is clear," We can do the rematch if Estrada, (who has a rematch clause) doesn't want it, I want the winner of Ioka-Martinez." Ioka currently owns two of the other three major world titles at 115 pounds, and becoming undisputed is an important goal for him. Promoter Eddie Hearn discussed possibly bringing Rodriguez back to San Antonio in the future but has loved the number of tickets his fighter has sold in Phoenix the last two times out.