WBC and Ring Magazine king Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez faces WBO champion Phumelele Cafu in a blockbuster unification battle at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on July 19, live on DAZN.
25-year-old Rodriguez (21-0 14 KOs) is back in action following a stellar 2024, where he followed his epic KO win over modern great Juan Francisco Estrada in a fight of the year contender in Phoenix in June to become a two-weight unified champion in Philadelphia in November with a dominant three-round destruction of Pedro Guevara.
Now, the slick southpaw fights in his home state for the first time since he became a two-weight champion by beating Cristian Hernandez in his San Antonio hometown in April 2023.
WBO beltholder Cafu (11-0-3 8 KOs) puts his title on the line for the first time after taking the crown from Kosei Tanaka in Tokyo in October via split decision.
The ‘Truth’ now steps into the biggest fight of his career in just his second world championship contest, with the South African landing his belt in just his 14th pro-outing.
“I’m excited to finally step back into the ring,” said Texan Rodriguez. “I cannot wait to fight in front of my home state fans. I’m looking forward to unifying in another weight division.
“I know Cafu is a tough opponent, but these kinds of fights bring out the best in me and I’ll be ready for whatever he brings. July 19th tune in and witness greatness.”
“This is awesome, man, because once again I get to step in with an elite fighter and prove the world wrong, showing people that I’m also an elite fighter,” said South African Cafu. “I’ve always wanted to fight him because people think he is the bogeyman of the division and say he is unbeatable, but I’ll prove to the people that no one is unbeatable. Beating him will put me on the pound-for-pound list, and I will be King of the division.”
The first undercard bout announced on the Bam-Cafu show will see unbeaten LA super-middleweight sensation Diego Pacheco face once-beaten Trevor McCumby.
Pacheco (23-0 18 KOs) is closing in on his first World title shot, and the WBO #1 will be aiming to add another scalp to his resume following an impressive showing in Las Vegas where he dominated unbeaten Nebraskan Steven Nelson with a wide 117-111 unanimous win.
McCumby (28-1 21 KOs) will have other ideas though as the Arizonan looks to get back on track for another world title tilt of his own. The 32-year-old floored former world ruler Caleb Plant in the fourth round of their WBA Interim title fight in Las Vegas in September, but Plant eventually stopped McCumby in the ninth round.
“I’ve been working my entire life to get to this point in my career where im facing the best fighters in the world,” said Pacheco.
“I’m very excited to be back,” said McCumby. “There’s a lot of hype behind my opponent, that I will put to rest. The world hasn’t seen the best Trevor McCumby and I plan show them come fight night.”
