Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez calls himself a “Legendary Killer” after he stopped Juan Francisco Estrada in June
Ever since he defeated Sisaket Rungvisai in 2022, the 24-year-old Rodriguez was able to advance past Carlos Cuadras and Sonny Edwards while capturing the 112- and 115-pound titles.
Rodriguez, 20-0 (13 KOs), is BoxingScene’s No. 5 pound-for-pound fighter. He will be looking forward to defending his WBC super flyweight world title on November 9 when he defeats Pedro Que. Vara 42-4-1 (22 KO) If the heavy favorite Rodriguez scores a win at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on DAZN, he wants a bigger fish to fry.
After three intense sparring sessions totaling 24 rounds with Roman “Chocolate Tito” Gonzalez, Rodriguez now wants a real fight with the four-division champion he has long admired.
“It could happen if I didn’t fight at 115 pounds,” Rodriguez told BoxingScene. “The Chocolatito fight would have kept the fight fans interested. It would have been at 115 because I had the belt. There is no reason to fight at 118 pounds without a belt. It must make sense. If the numbers aren’t correct then there’s really no point.
“He said he wanted to fight me. The feeling is mutual. I want to go in there and share a ring with a legend. I believe it will be the fight of the year.”
Rodriguez has previously stated that he never thought the fight with Gonzalez would happen due to mutual respect and cooperation with Japanese promoter Akihiko Honda. President of Teiken Promotion
After losing two of his last three fights with Estrada over the past three years, Gonzalez, 37, returned to his native Nicaragua in July and made his debut at 118 pounds. To score a TKO in the 10th round against Robert Barrera.
Before the fight, Gonzalez prepared to send Rodriguez onto the field for Estrada.
“The practice was amazing,” Rodriguez said. “It goes back and forth every time. Each rehearsal is a firework. Sparring is harder than any fight I’ve ever had.”
Another superstar that the southpaw from San Antonio is keeping an eye on is current 122-pound king Naoya Inoue.
Rodriguez, trained and managed by Robert Garcia, was playing the game. When he was asked if he would consider moving up two weight classes to face four-division champion Inoue,
“Yes, of course. After all, I think it could happen. It was just a matter of time before it happened,” Rodriguez said.
“That is something we need to discuss with the team. It’s a risky battle moving up two weight classes against a natural 122 pounds. We probably need to talk about this.”
Manuk Agopyan is a sports journalist, author, and broadcast reporter whose credits include ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring. Magazine and more. He has written for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. Email at manouk(dot). akopyan(at)gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com
