Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez Has Greatness In Sight When He Faces Juan Francisco Estrada
Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez is already one of the leading pound-for-pound boxers on the planet, but on Saturday June 29, the two-weight world champion has an opportunity to achieve greatness.
Rodriguez (19-0-0 12 KO) faces WBC super-flyweight champion and future Hall of Famer Juan Francisco Estrada (44-3-0 28 KO) at the Footprint Center in Phoenix aiming to win a world title in a third division.
One of the sport’s best current boxers against an all-time great, little wonder that this bout is being talked about as a potential fight of the year – and even Bam agrees.
“It’s going to live up to it,” said Rodriguez. “When our styles collide, it’s going to make for fireworks, and whoever is tuned in is going to see something special. People are going to see the best Bam Rodriguez to date.”
Rodriguez is the comfortable pre-fight favorite with the bookmakers. The 24-year-old Texan has been faultless in his career so far, easing his way through the light-flyweight and flyweight divisions to collect titles in both divisions. He most recently unified at 112lbs with a masterclass performance against Sunny Edwards in December, inflicting the only defeat of the British fighter’s record to add the IBF belt to his own WBO title.
Rodriguez Pursues Three-Weight Glory
Bam vacated his flyweight titles to pursue glory in a third division, and the challenge doesn’t come any greater than Estrada. The Mexican legend may be 34 – a full decade older than his opponent – but he has proved he still has plenty left in the tank.
Estrada rolled back the years to complete his trilogy with fellow legend Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez, beating the Nicaraguan in their 2021 rematch – nine years after their first fight – and again in December 2022 to win their head-to-head 2-1.
Both fights, which came either side of a victory over Argi Cortes in September 2022, were classics that went the distance, proving that Estrada’s endurance remains. He will need every ounce of it against the skillful Rodriguez.
Estrada also has the advantage of being highly experienced at 115lbs while Bam is contesting his first fight at the weight.
“I was there at that fight (Bam’s ninth-round stoppage of Edwards), and he looked great, spectacular,” Estrada said on Matchroom’s ‘Make the Days Count’ build-up show. “He knocked out Edwards very good, but then again, Edwards is a flyweight. It’s a different story in super flyweight.”
Estrada Relying On Experience
However, there is no escaping the fact that Estrada has not fought since his win over Gonzalez in December 2022, meaning by the time he faces Rodriguez, he would have been out of the ring for more than 18 months. Even for a fighter of his experience, skill, and accomplishment, it’s never going to be an advantage to be inactive ahead of a fight with someone as sharp as Bam.
“I consider myself to be a very complete boxer. I can go out, I can pressure, I can brawl. I don’t think Bam is going to have it easy,” Estrada said. “I think Bam Rodriguez has to be willing to die, because I’m willing to give it all up in the ring. And this is one fight I’m not going to let go.”
The big question is whether Bam’s advantages of youth, energy, skill, and speed outweigh the strengths of Estrada with his power, experience and grit. Both fighters will need to create and execute the perfect game plans to emerge victorious, and while Rodriguez starts as the favorite, Estrada will be giving that little thought.
A victory for the champion will only further cement a legacy that is destined for the Hall of Fame, while a win for the challenger will take him a major step closer to joining the Mexican in the annals of boxing history.
However the fight ends, fans can look forward to a battle that promises to be a blockbuster.
