Frisco, Texas – Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KOs) became a two-division unified champion by defeating Phumelela Cafu for his WBO super flyweight title. He did so with a punishing attack that forced Cafu’s corner to throw in the towel in the 10th round.
(Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom)
Bam landed nearly 50 percent of his power punches (171/345) pinning Cafu into the corners of the ring while he fended off the punches the best he could. Rodriguez landed 35.7 percent of his total punches (218/610), still the most effective boxer in the sport with a total connect percentage of 39.5 percent (Compubox). This being against the likes of Sunny Edwards, Juan Francisco Estrada, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, and Carlos Cuadras. He’s been great against top-level competition.
Bam’s preset fight with WBA and IBF champion Fernando “Puma” Martinez was officially announced last Friday, July 11, in New York at the Ring IV Press Conference. Leading many to believe that Bam was overlooking Cafu. Neither Jesse nor trainer Robert Garcia attended the presser and stated it was due to them being completely focused on Cafu.
The undisputed clash between Bam and Puma is set for November 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. At the post-fight press conference, Eddie Hearn said the fight with Puma was the second option: “Turki has a way of moving very quickly. When he offered us the fight with Nakatani at first, actually, he said he wanted to know that evening. Not in three to four days. Unfortunately, it means we got to make the call to Robert. You know Robert is in camp with Bam, and it’s like normally the answer from a trainer or manager, yeah…yeah, we’re up for that fight, but we best leave it till two weeks. But you have to give them an answer now, and they accepted the fight with Nakatani. Nakatani chose not to take the fight. Then they came back with Puma Martinez, and obviously this is all going on…Robert’s got to speak to Bam, but Bam’s just focused on the fight. So we agreed to the fight with Puma Martinez.”
Rodriguez has many options going forward, and he’s not afraid to fight the best of the best. He’s willing to take on the biggest name of the sport. Hearn added that a potential mega fight could happen in San Antonio, Texas, in the near future. One of the main focuses for this camp with Cafu was to improve defensively. He outlanded Cafu in every single round, making him miss, and countering him effectively.
The former WBO champion had 11 victories, with 8 of them being by knockout. It appears his aim is to become undisputed champion at super flyweight and then possibly face the potential winner of the rumored fight between Junto Nakatani and Naoya Inoue. For as great as he is offensively, improving defensively will make him that much better, and these improvements will allow him to better combat those future opponents. Jesse is only 25 years old and has yet to reach his full potential. He can truly be one of the all-time greats of the sport.
Last Updated on 07/21/2025
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