Rodriguez Stops Vargas To Become Three-Division Champion

Jesse Rodriguez is 26 years old and holds world titles in three weight divisions. Naoya Inoue is next.

Rodriguez stopped Antonio Vargas in the sixth round at Glendale, Arizona on Saturday night, landing a straight left hand to the nose that ended the fight 1 minute and 15 seconds into the round and delivered the WBA bantamweight belt to a man who has now collected titles at flyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">super flyweight, flyweight, and bantamweight across a 24-0 professional career.

"I was just happy I'm a three-division champion at 26 years old," Rodriguez said, racing to the nearest corner post to raise his fists before the arena had fully processed what it had just witnessed.

Through four rounds, Vargas had made a genuine contest of it — flashing crisp jab work in the opening round, throwing combinations that had Rodriguez absorbing shots against the ropes, and closing rounds impressively enough to suggest the fight was genuinely competitive. Rodriguez appeared to be taking inventory rather than taking over, content to absorb information while landing his lefts and, at one point in the second round, sticking his tongue out at a ringside camera.

The fifth round changed everything. Rodriguez landed a left hand that dropped Vargas and had the champion in serious trouble. Vargas survived, but the damage was done, and Rodriguez spent the remainder of that round and the opening minute of the sixth targeting the same vulnerability until the straight left to the nose ended the evening cleanly.

"He had pop in his punches. He was a lot stronger than I thought," Rodriguez said of Vargas, who had entered the fight with a reputation for toughness built across two previous knockdown escapes. "I have a lot of respect for him."

The post-fight conversation moved to Inoue before the ring had fully cleared. Japan's four-division undisputed junior featherweight champion is 33-0 with 27 knockouts and represents the most compelling opponent available to Rodriguez at bantamweight — a fight between two unbeaten champions, each with devastating power and technical excellence, that the sport has been pointing toward for some time.

Rodriguez left no doubt about where he stands. "Whoever they put in front of me, I'm going to say yes."