Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez was never supposed to make it this far, at least not this fast. His talent has always been off the charts but considering his age, 23, and the minuscule amount of fights he has under his belt, 18, it seemed entirely too early for him to be viewed as one of the best flyweights in the world. And yet he is.
On relatively short notice in 2021, Rodriguez, who hadn’t fought for a world title at the time, brazenly accepted the chance of a lifetime. With Carlos Cuadras in desperate need of a new opponent, Rodriguez agreed to move up to the super flyweight division to take on the former champ for the vacant WBC title. If that wasn’t impressive enough, Rodriguez defended his crown against Wisaksil Wangek. He would register one more title defense before moving back down in weight to take on Cristian Gonzalez Hernandez for the vacant WBO flyweight title.
Rodriguez has flashed it all. Whether it’s speed, power, or angles, the 23-year-old has a deep bag of tricks. With multiple titles already in his possession, he’ll now have the opportunity to become a unified champ.
On December 16th, at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, Sunny Edwards will place his IBF title on the line in their unification clash. Up until this point, the 27-year-old has not only talked the talk but also walked the walk.
For hours at a time, the British trash talker can be seen on his social media account throwing jabs at the rest of the flyweight division. So far, no one’s been able to zip his lips. But, even with Edwards boxing the ears off his opponents, including Andres Campos in his most recent outing, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez isn’t convinced that Edwards is in the same league as the up-and-coming star.
He doesn’t normally say much, but Gonzalez recently jumped on his social media account to express that Rodriguez will barely break a sweat against Edwards.
“Easy, easy win for Bam.”