Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez believes he belongs in the top five of the rankings regardless of weight class after his knockout victory over Mexican legend Juan Francisco Estrada on Saturday night in Phoenix to regain the WBC super flyweight title and win his first Ring belt.
Rodriguez (20-0 13 KOs) started the fight aggressively and in the third round he dropped Estrada with a powerful uppercut, putting him on the defending champion. The next round brought another breakthrough for the Texan, as another uppercut opened the way for a left hook that dropped “El Gallo.”
But just as “Bam” looked to shift into gear and end the fight before the halfway point, Estrada brought the packed house to its feet by landing the first right hook on the 24-year-old in his career.
Rodriguez immediately regained his composure and finished the round strongly. As the seventh round came to an end, Bam landed a nasty left-handed body blow that dropped Estrada, and Rodriguez crushed the third of the four super-mass kings.
Following the fight, Rodriguez and promoter Eddie Hearn addressed the media at the Footprint Center to recap the fighter’s thrilling performance, offer his take on where he stands outside of the weight classes and ponder what might be next for him.
“I’m a legend killer,” Rodriguez said. “The better the opponent, the better I play, I’ve always felt that way. It was just a matter of time before the world saw it.
“I said I’m here at 115 for two or three fights, I know there’s a rematch clause with Estrada, so if he wants to do it we can do it again, if not I want the winner of Kazuto Ioka and Fernando Martinez. It’s a great fight, I think Ioka might be a little too technical for Martinez so he’ll come out on top. I’d like to fight in Japan. I’ve been there a few times, I’ve been there for boxing and it’s a different atmosphere so I’d like to go there and fight anyone.
“Estrada is a legend and a fighter, he will want to come back and try to beat me, but from this point on I will only be better.
“The scorecards are pretty crazy to me. I thought I was dominating the fight. Even in the round where I got knocked down, I came back and finished the round in good shape. So the scorecards were a shock to me, but that’s boxing, that’s how it goes, and it’s good that I was able to get him out of there.
“When I got knocked down, I got too negligent. Robert was even telling me in the round before to stay peaceful and do what I was doing, but honestly, I got too comfortable and got caught with a great shot. It was a lightning-fast knockdown, I knew when I went down, I smiled and just got back up and stuck to my game plan, it was just a learning experience.”
“Choclatio’s sparring was perfect for this camp, he’s been in the ring three times with Estrada and he knows Estrada better than anyone. I’m very grateful for these rounds and I’d like to thank Chocolatito for the three sparring sessions we had.
“This is my best win to date. Like I said, he’s a legend, he’s been a top fighter for a long time, regardless of weight class, so for me to go out there and dominate him like that, it speaks volumes about my game and my talent.
“At first I didn’t care about the pound-for-pound list, but when I got put on it, it was after I beat Clear Edwards and I felt better than I did after winning the fight. So to be on the pound-for-pound list with all the other great fighters is an honor. Before the fight there was talk of moving up the list, especially if I stopped him, and I’m definitely in the top five pound-for-pound.
“I’ve fought in Arizona three times now, this is the biggest one. Phoenix holds a special place in my heart, I love fighting here and the atmosphere was crazy.
“It’s awesome to be traded with Naoya Inoue. I’m 115 pounds and he’s 122 pounds, so that just shows how talented I am.”
“It was an incredible fight,” Hearn said. “I thought Bam dominated the first half of the fight, but then Estrada came back with a knockdown and looked to turn the fight around. Jesse shook it off, but Estrada came back in, but all of a sudden the body shot was perfectly placed and he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t get up, and it was a stunning finish to a stunning fight.
“Estrada’s been out of the fight for a while, so sometimes you think it might be a while before he gets into the fight, and El Gallo is a very good finisher, especially on the straight. So I wasn’t surprised Jesse was out of the fight, shelling him early, but I was surprised he hurt him so early. But Jesse looked very brave today, and at 24 he’s really building his strength.”
“The problem with the lower weight classes is that they often don’t get the respect of the higher weight classes. For me, Jesse should be in the mix with Terence Crawford, Inoue, Usyk. He went through Cuadras, he went through Rungvisai, he stopped Edwards, he knocked out Estrada. He’s already on the pound-for-pound list, but I think he’s top five pound-for-pound now. He’s 24, he’s got four or five years left in him, and we’re honored to represent him.
“You saw the crowd there, we’re in Phoenix, not San Antonio, and there were so many Mexicans there, Bam had a lot of support and he’s a real star. The rematch is there, there’s opportunities in Japan, there’s opportunities to come back to San Antonio, and also come back to Phoenix. The future is dazzling, he wants to try to unify the division, El Gallo has an opportunity to have a rematch and we’ll see how it goes.”
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