The opportunity that the entire team has been waiting for has finally arrived. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez of San Antonio, TX will be getting his first title shot this Saturday in Phoenix, AZ. Rodriguez was already scheduled to fight Fernando Diaz on the undercard of the main event of Sor Rungvisai versus Carlos “El Principe” Cuadras. Salvador “Chava” Rodriguez of ESPN reported via Twitter that Rungvisai is unavailable and stepping up in his replacement is the young undefeated southpaw that trains with Robert Garcia in Riverside, CA. It’s reported that the fight has been approved to take place for the vacant WBC super flyweight title. Eddie Hearn of Matchroom boxing, tweeted out “You have to be on your toes right now, but you also need Warriors that are ready to go to war & roll the dice. With Sor Rungvisai taken to hospital, one of the USA’s top young prospects Bam Rodriguez steps up two divisions to challenge Cuardras for the WBC World title this Saturday!”
Rodriguez turned pro in March of 2017 in Mexico City, MX after his scheduled pro debut in Japan was canceled. He’s promoted by Mr. Honda’s Teiken promotions, the same promoter for many Japanese and Mexican fighters in the lower weight classes, including Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez. I interviewed Rodriguez and his older brother, champion Joshua Franco, a few months ago and Bam shared that he was runner up in the world amateur tournament in Russia in September of 2015. We also talked about how tough his opponent turned out to be in his pro-debut in Mexico City. Rodriguez admitted he got caught with a good shot but was able to finish the fight and get the victory. It’s been nothing but up from there for the young prospect. Rodriguez was on untelevised cards for his next four bouts, fighting in Tijuana, MX twice and two more times in San Antonio, TX. It wasn’t until May of 2018 that Rodriguez landed on the undercard of Gennady “GGG” Golovkin versus Vanes Martirosyan in Carson, CA that he was introduced to bigger stage events. Even though he might not have landed on the HBO broadcast portion of the show he began to get his feet wet of what it would feel to be on the big stage.
In his next fight, his promoters and managers landed him a spot on a Premier Boxing Champions event in Ontario, CA where he fought a tough Edwin Reyes on the undercard of a Brandon Figueroa card. At the end of 2018 he finished the year fighting in December on the undercard of Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury I at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The significance about that night was that his stablemate and sparring partner Carlos Licona of Westminster, CA was crowned IBF strawweight champion in just his fourteenth bout as a professional fighter - just one less pro fight in experience than what Rodriguez is trying to accomplish this Saturday in Phoenix. But like Hearn was quoted earlier saying, Rodriguez is moving up two weight divisions from 108 lb, passing mini flyweight 112 lb and jumping right into the ring with an ex champion with forty-four fights under his belt in pro experience. Rodriguez has never been past the eighth round, stopping 10 of his 14 rivals. This will be his first fight scheduled bout for twelve rounds.
In March of 2019, Rodriguez earned another opportunity on a Premier Boxing Champions event to showcase his skills on the undercard of stablemate four division world champion Mikey Garcia. Garcia fought Errol Spence at the AT&T stadium in Arlington, TX, home of the NFL Dallas Cowboys. Rodriguez stopped his opponent in the third round earning him a TKO victory. After that performance Rodriguez headlined his own show in Floresville, TX near his hometown of San Antonio,TX. He earned a six round unanimous decision that night and he’s only gone the distance with his opponents a handful of times.
In February of 2020 Rodriguez once again earned a spot on his stablemate Mikey Garcia’s undercard. Garcia was in the main event fighting Jessie Vargas after Garcia suffered the first loss of his professional career. Rodriguez was in there with a tough fighter from Oceanside, CA, Marco “El Lobito” Sustaita. Rodriguez earned an eighth round TKO that night. In September of 2020, for the first time in his career, Rodriguez found himself fighting on ESPN+ where he displayed a vicious first round knockout over his opponent Janiel Rivera. Rivera had previously fought Rodriguez’ stablemate Carlos Licona. That same year in December Rodriguez once again fought on a Top Rank show on ESPN+ in Las Vegas, displaying a spectacular knockout in the second round this time.
Rodriguez’ last bout in October of last year in Fresno, CA has a very interesting story behind it. Again this super talented young prospect was scheduled to fight on the undercard of his stablemate Mikey Garcia. After fighting three times in 2020 and only once in 2021 because of two canceled bout dates, the team was growing impatient and frustrated as they know how important it is to be consistent and active as a fighter. Here comes the interesting plot of Rodriguez’ last fight. Mikey Garcia, the headliner to the show, was ready to call the promoter of the show and cancel the event, as he felt the opponent Sandor Martin was one he was not terribly excited for. The plot twist comes on the day Garcia was in the gym ready to share his news of canceling the event, his brother and trainer Robert Garcia received news that Rodriguez would be earning a title shot on fight night in Fresno, CA. This action prompted Mikey Garcia to go through with the commitment to keep the date and fight that night, where he fought for the second loss of his pro career. Garcia sacrificed himself in order to push forward the career of his stablemate Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez. Rodriguez did not under perform, earning a fourth round knockout in spectacular fashion over the tough mini flyweight Jose Alejandro Burgos.
Rodriguez has passed every test in flying colors and that is why his entire team has done everything possible to get him fight dates and get him the exposure they feel he deserves. Tune in this Saturday on the app, DAZN to see the fireworks between Carlos Cuadras and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and possibly see a newly crowned Bam Rodriguez.
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