“Bam” Rodriguez Seeks to Unify Super Flyweight Division Before Moving Up
The American boxer Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez has set an ambitious goal: to unify the super flyweight division before moving up in weight. The pugilist from San Antonio, Texas, has two fights in mind to achieve this goal. Rodríguez will face Fernando Daniel Martínez for three world titles at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This fight is part of a stellar card that also includes high-caliber matchups such as David Benavidez vs. Anthony Yarde (light heavyweight) and Brian Norman vs. Devin Haney (welterweight). The WBC and WBO champion, Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KOs), 25, is coming off a tenth-round victory over Phumelela Cafu in July, thus achieving a second title. He is currently ranked fifth in the pound-for-pound list. His next rival, Martinez (18-0, 9 KOs), 34 years old and originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, has defended his WBA title four times. If Rodriguez defeats Martinez, he will only need one belt to become the undisputed champion at 115 pounds. The IBF title is held by Willibaldo Garcia (23-6-2, 13 KOs), 35 years old and originally from Mexico, who will defend it against Kenshiro Teraji in Saudi Arabia on December 25.Rodríguez plans a maximum of two more fights in the super flyweight category before moving up. He is confident that his team will manage to secure the fight against the IBF champion. Rodríguez considers Martínez a formidable rival, but feels prepared for the challenge. Furthermore, he is excited to be part of a card with so many renowned boxers. This will be the third super flyweight title defense for “Bam”, after unifying the world titles at flyweight. Rodríguez is considering the possibility of competing at featherweight (126 pounds) and has figures like Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani in his sights. Rodríguez has mentioned the possibility of reaching 126 pounds, although time will tell if he can compete in a higher category. He would like to fight in Japan in the future, where he has fans.“The goal is to be undisputed. If I surpass Martinez, there will only be one belt left, so I’m very close to achieving it,” Bam declared.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez
