‘Bam’ had to tough it out in order to win his first world title after dropping down to flyweight.
At just 25-years-old, Jesse Rodriguez is one of the most exciting talents in any weight division right now.
The Texas-born star has already beaten the likes of Juan Francisco Estrada and Sunny Edwards with Rodriguez admitting that he expected tougher fights from both men.
He still has a lot of iconic nights still to come in his career with the likes of Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez targeting Rodriguez as he looks to unify the super flyweight division.
On this day in 2023, fight fans found out that one of the newest stars on the scene isn’t just a world class talent with a flashy style, he has the heart of a champion to match it.
Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez fought through a broken jaw to win his first flyweight title
After winning and defending the WBC super flyweight title, Jesse Rodriguez set his sights on a new goal.
‘Bam’ was made the top contender at flyweight by the WBO towards the end of 2022 which allowed him to fight for the vacant title now that Junto Nakatani had moved up a weight class.
Rodriguez met the #2-ranked Cristian Gonzales on April 8 at the Boeing Center in San Antonio where he emerged victorious over 12-rounds.
Scores of 116-112, 117-111 and 118-110 saw him retain his status as the youngest active titleholder in boxing but this win didn’t come without some significant adversity.
It was immediately obvious that something wasn’t right with Rodriguez which he clarified in his post-fight interview by stating that he had broken his jaw, hence why his speech was different.
His assessment was correct with his jaw requiring surgery before he returned later that year in December where he beat Sunny Edwards for the IBF flyweight belt.
“It wasn’t the best performance, I’ll admit that. I got my jaw broken in like the sixth round or some s—. This s— hurts, I barely can talk right now… I guess I got caught with my mouth open and cracked my s—.”
What’s next for Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez?
In his latest appearance, Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez made quick work of his challenger Pedro Geuvara to retain the WBC and The Ring super flyweight titles.
Having only needed three rounds to get the job done this past November, it’s expected that we will see the champion back out soon.
Eddie Hearn gave a recent update on what is next for ‘Bam’ when he told IFL TV that fans should stay tuned for the next update on his career.
“We’ll be unifying the division and that’ll be announced very soon.”
Hearn added that the fight will take place in America with many fans expected WBO champion Phumelela Cafu to be the opponent.