Rodriguez Captures WBC Title, Slays Another Legend

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. 

Bam Rodriguez and Juan Francisco Estrada being Negotiated for the Summer

After Bam Rodriguez, 19-0 (12) of San Antonio, dismantled Sunny Edwards back in December 16th to become the unified Flyweight champion, he seemed eager and set on fighting legendary, pound-for-pound great and future Hall Of Famer Juan Francisco Estrada. That fight is now under negotiations and appears likely to happen according to inside sources. Rodriguez is expecting his first child, a daughter, in April, and the fight looks to be targeted for the summer, likely in July. No official date or location has been mentioned. Estrada, of Mexico, sports a 44-3 (28) record. He last fought 14 months ago and won the vacant WBC Super Flyweight by narrowly outpointing the legendary Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez. Estrada was criticized back in 2022 for apparently ducking Bam's older brother Joshua Franco after Golden Boy had won the purse bid and Estrada opted to vacate his WBA belt instead of squaring off with Franco and opting for largely unknown Argi Cortes. Following the Cortes fight, Estrada followed up and outpointed Chocolatito to win the WBC belt. That was ironically vacated by the San Antonian when he moved down to 112 pounds. Rodriguez will look to recapture the belt he vacated that was then won by the man who openly ducked his brother.

Bam! Down Goes Sunny! Rodriguez unifies Flyweight Straps

Eddie Hearn labeled Bam Rodriguez vs Sunny Edwards as the best fighting the best Saturday night at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Bam Rodriguez, of San Antonio, moved to 19-0 (12), picked up the IBF Flyweight belt to add to his WBO title, and gave one of the ten best performances promoter Eddie Hearn has ever seen by absolutely destroying Sunnty Edwards of London, England.

After a competitive couple of opening rounds that saw Bam investing to the body and Edwards moving and using his jab. The rounds were reasonably close and competitive. However, it was Rodriguez landing the more meaningful shots. A vintage Bam right hook scored in the second round with about 45 seconds to go caught the attention of the Brit. Edwards bounced back with a strong third, but that was really the last moment of success he had. The fourth round saw Rodriguez pick up the pace. The now unified champ said in the press conference that he had "figured it out and saw Edwards slowing down" at this point. Edwards's eye was swelling badly, so he decided to switch to southpaw. It did nothing to confuse or frustrate the Alamo City native. Rodriguez out-jabbed the Brit and scored with powerful hooks that drove him backward into the ropes, and Rodriguez would do damage to the body of Edwards while he was in the ropes. The Texan stayed downstairs as Edwards began to slow down and became more stationary as the rounds went on. Bam began teeing off on his opponent, and it became abundantly clear that Rodriguez was going to get his man out of there. It was just a matter of when. The when came in the ninth round as Rodriguez had put together a sustained rally, and had his opponent in a world of trouble and then ended it abruptly, with an overhand left from the rafters that the sharp-shooting Texan loaded up on and scored with perfectly. The shot lifted Edwards up off his feet and put him on the canvas as the round expired. Edwards somehow got up and made it to his corner, but his team decided that was sufficient and waved off the bout, giving Rodriguez the TKO victory and making him a unified champion.

"I am satisfied I got the one period. That's the goal, but I knew I had what it takes to stop him. So that's what I did." The newly minted unified Flyweight champion explained.

Bam Rodriguez and Sunny Edwards Face Off in Orlando Ahead of December's Unification Fight

Thursday afternoon in Orlando, Florida. San Antonio's own Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez and "Showtime: Sunny Edwards, of Surrey, England met face to face at the press conference announcing their December 16th Flyweight unification fight in Glendale, Arizona.

Rodriguez, 18-0 (11), currently holds the WBO belt, and Edwards 20-0 (4), holds the IBF strap at 112-pounds. The pair of champions kept the press conference respectful and spoke well of each other. Rodrigeuz said, "I’ve never been one to say no to a fight. This is the best fighting the best. This is what every boxer dreams of." The Texan is a two-division world champion. He won his first world title at 115 pounds by stepping in on a week's notice and dominated Carlos Cuadras over 12-one-sided rounds he defended the belt twice before vacating the belt and moving back down to his more natural weight of 112. He outclassed Cristian Gonzalez in April to capture the WBO Flyweight title. This will be his first defense of that title. Rodriguez added that "this is the biggest fight of his career" and expressed much confidence in himself saying, "He hasn’t faced anyone like me. Someone with good footwork and determination. December 16th is going to be a good one."

Edwards captured his IBF world title back in 2021 by outpointing Moruti Mthalane, at York Hall in London. Showtime has successfully defended his title four times, winning all his defenses via decision, including his most recent victory in a tougher-than-expected battle with undefeated Andres Campos. Edwards compared himself to a "Rubik's cube", saying "No one can figure him out."

The pair will then continue the media tour for the event in London next week, with media activities to be confirmed around the fight week for Jai Opetaia’s IBF World Cruiserweight title defense against Jordan Thompson at the OVO Arena Wembley on Saturday, September 30th, airing live on DAZN.

Relentless! Bam Makes History in San Antonio!

Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez made history at the Boeing Center at Tech Port Arena in his hometown of San Antonio. Rodriguez made an epic ring walk as the capacity crowd chanted, "210! 210! 210!" The hometown hero did not disappoint. The tempo of the fight was established early as Rodriguez was relentless in his attack. Firing off a jab that landed like a power shot and mixed in straight lefts and right hooks that he mixed up to the head and body. Cristian Gonzalez, a long-rangy flyweight, was on his back foot and determined to use the entire ring to keep the pressuring Rodriguez at bay. The first punch of consequence was landed by the San Antonian, to the delight of the crowd. A straight left found its mark just past the midway point of the opening stanza. Bam continued on the front foot and would keep his opponents back to the ropes. Straight lefts poured in for Rodriguez, but it was largely one shot at a time. However, a double jab stunned Gonzalez in the second round. As Bam got off to another strong start in the second round. A straight left from the Texan had Gonzalez in real trouble for the first time with about 30 seconds left in the round. The third picked up, where the second ended with Bam on the attack. He received a warning for a low blow but then had his most dominant round of the bout. The only question that remained while going into the middle rounds became whether could Gonzlaez withstand the relentlessness of the San Antonian and make it to the final bell. Rodriguez suffered what is perhaps a broken jaw in the sixth but fought through it and continued to break down his Mexican opponent.

As the rounds progressed and the action moved into the second round of the fight it became evident the straight left from Rodriguez could not miss as he cut off the ring and kept his opponent against the ropes it's amazing at this point Gonzalez is still on his feet ba had him cornered late in the 8th but he again slipped out. Going into the championship round the fight was completely one-sided as Gonzalez is strictly looking to survive. It was also obvious that he was content with not winning, not engaging, and surviving till the end and that's exactly what Gonzalez did. He made it to the final bell but the lopsided scores came in, 118-110, and much too close scores of 116-112 and 117-111 all in favor of the San Antonionian. Making Bam the first two-division world champ from Alamo City. He also apparently suffered a fractured jaw.

Two other Texans were featured on the card. Houston-based middleweight Raphael Igbokwe challenged unbeaten boogeyman of the 154-pound division, Israil Madrimov of Uzbekistan, Igbokwe, a southpaw, moved well early and landed his jab and quick counter shots that kept Madrimov honest. However the Uzbek's pressure and skill on the inside were just too much. The Houstonian continued battling valiantly and fighting to win, scoring with straight lefts and right hooks on the inside. The battle moved to the middle of the ring, which favored the pressure fighter, and Madrimov rolled to a hard-earned and competitive unanimous decision victory.

In the night's opening bout was 18-Year-old phenom and 14x national champion Jesus "Panterita" Martinez of Del Rio in a major step-up bout. Martinez battled Queens, NY, resident Jose Lopez. After a sensational first round that Panterita was able to dominate from the outside and put together lightning-quick combinations. Lopez, bigger, older, and more experienced at the professional level, was able to impose his will to a degree and get on the inside and make the fight happen at close range. It appeared Martinez was landing the cleaner, flusher, shots. However, he Panterita was beginning to fade, and Lopez rallied in the fourth. The judges saw that as enough to award the bout a three-way draw. With one judge scoring it 39-37 each way, and the third had it 38-38 even.

A Special Night of Specia Talent in San Antonio

Saturday night at the brand new state-of-the-art, Tech Port Arena in San Antonio was a special night, to say the least. WBC Bam Rodriguez acknowledged this the next day on social media, saying it was a special night. The crowd was electric, and they knew they weren't just watching good fighters. They were watching generational talent, the future of Texas boxing, and the future of the sport.  It wasn't just Rodriguez, who was absolutely flawless and electric in stopping Sor Rungvisai over eight, absolutely one-sided rounds, even though he was. In the opening bout of the night 17-year-old, 14x-time, US national champ and international champion "Panterita" Jesus Martinez of Del Rio. The highly touted blue-chip prospect put on another strong performance. 

The teenager has a beyond his years, type of ring IQ and patience in the ring, and that is matched by his humble, low-key personality outside the ring. After scoring a knockdown in the first round of his pro-debut Panterita stayed calm and patient, and didn't sell-put or bum rush his wounded opponent. He stayed calm and outboxed his out-matched opponent, and took the UD victory. In his second pro fight, he was well in control. When a glancing blow brushed off his shoulder in the third round an off-balanced and slipping Martinez ended up on the canvas. On what appeared to be a slip but was ruled a knockdown. The 17-year-old got to his feet and brushed it off. he went to his corner and was told to stay calm, shake it off, and reminded him he was very much in control of the fight. He did just that and finished the fourth round like he started the first two working behind a jab and a stiff right hand and wobbling his opponent with a crisp left hook to pick up his second decision victory in two weeks.

Martinez's talent is noticed by some of the biggest and best in the boxing world. Given his immense talent and beyond-his-years- maturity, it's not really a question of if he gets to a world title. It's when and how many. The 118-pounder is already really big for his weight class and carries quite a bit of power. He scored posterizing knockouts in the amateurs. What weight does he grow into? 126, 130, maybe 135? It stands to reason he can win titles all the way up through those weight classes. He has the right team behind him. He is managed by two former world champions in Darren Barker, who held the IBF middleweight title, and Hall of Famer Joe Calzaghe who held titles at 168 pounds for a decade and was the lineal Ring Magazine champ at 175. He is trained by the best stable at the RBGA he is working and growing under the tutelage of Robert Garcia. Where he trains alongside a pair of world champions in Bam and Josh Franco, each of the two speaks very highly of Panterita. Mentioning just how good he looks in the gym. After his pro debut, President of Matchroom Boxing Eddie Hearn took to social media to see where the 17-year-old would be allowed to fight. Hearn got him immediately back in the ring in Texas, just two weeks after his successful pro debut. The Del Rio phenome will likely be back in the ring in August in Mexico on his next stop to potentially like his stable mate, becoming the youngest world champion in the sport.