Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez has dominated out transferring as much as 122 to problem Naoya Inoue for his undisputed tremendous bantamweight championship following his dethroning of WBC tremendous flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada final Saturday night time.
Rodriguez Prioritizes Unification at 115 lbs
When requested after his seventh-round knockout victory over the Estrada (44-4, 28 KOs) about his curiosity in going through the unbeaten Inoue subsequent, ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs) mentioned his focus is on unifying the 115-lb division. Bam needs the July seventh unification struggle winner between IBF tremendous flyweight champion Fernando Martinez and WBA champion Kazuto Ioka.
Rodriguez wouldn’t be prepared to maneuver as much as 122 to tackle the skilled, hard-hitting Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs), who has lethal accuracy, velocity, and energy.
Given Inoue’s age, 31, it’s unlikely that Bam Rodriguez will get an opportunity to struggle him earlier than he retires. It can take Bam too lengthy to maneuver up as a result of he needs to unify all of the belts at 115 lb, which can take or two.
If Jesse Rodriguez is profitable, he’ll wish to transfer to 118 first, and he would wish to face WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani. He might lose to the large puncher.
Weight Disparity and Inoue’s Trajectory
“I do know folks need that, however let’s be actual, proper now, it’s a fantasy struggle. I’ve started working my method up,” mentioned Bam Rodriguez to the media final Saturday night time about his curiosity in combating Naoya Inoue.
“He’s at 122 lbs proper now; I’m at 115 lbs. I’ve received enterprise to deal with at this weight class. I need the winner of Kazuto Ioka vs. Fernando Martinez,” mentioned Rodriguez.
Naoya Inoue plans to maneuver as much as 126 to marketing campaign at featherweight subsequent yr. So, it doesn’t appear real looking for Bam ever to struggle him.
The one method a struggle between them might occur is that if Rodriguez had been formidable and courageous sufficient to maneuver as much as 122 instantly and beat one of many prime contenders to create stress on the Japanese star. Rodriguez won’t do this as a result of he’s taking part in it rigorously along with his profession.
Defensive Vulnerabilities
One large downside is that Bam is just too simple to hit, as we noticed with the pictures that the past-his-best 34-year-old Estrada was hitting him with within the struggle. When Estrada let his palms go, he gave Bam Rodriguez issues.
It was solely when Estrada stopped punching for prolonged durations that Bam Rodriguez might get his pictures off and dominate the older fighter. Rodriguez’s efficiency confirmed the identical weaknesses in his sport that had been there the final time he fought at 115 in September 2022 towards Israel Gonzalez.
Bam received hit loads in that struggle and suffered a jaw harm in a detailed contest. After that efficiency, Rodriguez returned to 112 and did effectively, beating Cristian Gonzalez and Sunny Edwards earlier than returning to the 115-lb division final Saturday night time for his struggle towards Estrada.
With Rodriguez’s victory over Estrada, he now holds the WBC tremendous flyweight title, and he’s received the recognition to lure the opposite champions within the weight class to face him in a unification.
