Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez wants to become the pound-for-pound number one fighter in the sport – and believes that starts by winning his unification showdown with Phumelele Cafu for the WBC, WBO and Ring Magazine Super-Flyweight titles at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on Saturday July 19, live worldwide on DAZN.
Rodriguez (21-0 14 KOs) is looking to unify at Super-Flyweight having done so down at Flyweight in spectacular fashion against Briton Sunny Edwards in Arizona in December 2023.
He now puts his green and gold belt on the line against unbeaten WBO champ South African Cafu (11-0-3 8 KOs).
The San Antonio ace fights in his home state for the first time since he became a two-weight World champion in April 2023 when he collected the vacant WBO Flyweight strap from Cristian Hernandez, and has fought at the Ford Center before when he he was just 10-0 in February 2020.
“Bam” has shot to superstardom since that night, firstly becoming a world champion at super-flyweight in 2022; then a two-weight titlist and unified champion at flyweight in 2023; to becoming a two-time world champion at super-flyweight with two victories during 2024.
But the ambitious 25 year old has more targets in mind, starting with unifying once again on July 19, then looking to become undisputed before a climb to the top the list of the best fighters on the planet.
“I would love to be number one pound-for-pound,” declared Rodriguez. “There’s a lot of bragging rights being there, and I feel that I can go so far forward from where I am currently at.
“I’m never satisfied, there’s always more to gain and win, so I can go 10 times higher from here. I would love to go undisputed, so that’s two more fights at 115lbs, so we’ll see how it pans out.
“It’s badass seeing the smaller weights shine. When I was an amateur, it was Chocolatito that was doing it and I was like ‘Damn, this is cool,’ so for me to be in the same position, it means a lot.
“I’m so happy to be fighting in Dallas, it’s great to fight back in my home state, I’m happy to be back home.”
Rodriguez’s clash with Cafu tops a stacked card in Frisco, with the chief support bout featuring unbeaten Diego Pacheco defending his USWBC and WBO International Super-Middleweight titles against Trevor McCumby.
