Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez: Tale of the Tape

Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez is a fighter on the cusp of greatness but he faces the biggest test of his career to date when he comes up against veteran Juan Francisco Estrada in Phoenix on June 29.

Rodriguez is stepping back up to challenge for the WBC junior bantamweight belt he held in 2022. The 24-year-old boasts an unbeaten record after 19 fights and was last seen when stopping Sunny Edwards in December.

Estrada is a two-division world champion and one of the true stars of the lower weights, but he has campaigned lightly over recent years and June’s bout will be his first since December 2022.

Fighter Bio	Juan Francisco Estrada	Jesse Rodriguez
Odds:	+350	-500
Age:	34	24
Nickname:	El Gallo	Bam
Height:	5’ 4”	5’ 4”
Reach:	66”	67”
Weight:	Junior Bantamweight/Super Flyweight	Junior Bantamweight/Super Flyweight
Trainer:	Alfredo Caballero	Robert Garcia
Record:	44-3 (28 KOs)	19-0 (12 KOs)
Last Fight:	Win over Roman Gonzalez (December 3, 2022)	Win over Sunny Edwards RTD (December 16, 2023)

Read Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez fight date, ring walk times, undercard, how to watch & odds on site.

Juan Francisco Estrada Profile

Juan Francisco Estrada will probably go down as one of the all-time greats of the lower weight classes, irrespective of the result of his upcoming bout with Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez in June.

The Mexican star, known as El Gallo, has compiled a 44-3 record over the course of a 16-year career and he has never been stopped while he has won 28 of his fights inside the distance.

Estrada made his debut in his native Hermosillo back in 2008 with a points win over Sergio Chavez in a four-round contest. That win was the first in an 18-fight winning streak before he suffered a first defeat, a unanimous decision loss to Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr. in 2011.

Estrada would later avenge that loss, recording a 10th-round TKO win later the same year, and in 2012 he challenged for a world title for the first time.

El Gallo fell short in his first bid to become a world champion as he was outpointed by Roman Gonzalez in the first meeting of a career-defining and sensational trilogy.

Their next meeting did not come until 2021, however, and Estrada responded to missing out on the WBA junior flyweight crown by stepping up to flyweight and claiming the WBA Super and WBO belts with a split decision upset win over Brian Viloria.

Estrada defended those titles five times during a 10-fight winning streak, which included successes over the previously unbeaten Milan Melindo and former world champion Hernan Marquez.

That run came to an end against Thai southpaw Wisaksil Wangek as he slipped to a majority decision defeat in 2018, the most recent loss on his record. Estrada would avenge that defeat and claim the WBC junior bantamweight title in 2019.

Estrada defended his title twice before adding the WBA belt to his collection with a revenge win over Gonzalez, albeit via a contentious split decision. 

He reclaimed the WBC belt after vacating in another win over Gonzalez in December 2022 and has been out of the ring since.

Despite 18 months of inactivity, Estrada still features prominently in the pound-for-pound rankings and is currently regarded as the number one junior bantamweight by The Ring Magazine.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Experience	Inactivity
Power and durability	Can struggle against pressure fighters
Body shots

Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez Profile

Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez is one of the rising stars of the lower weight classes and a win over Estrada would mark a continuation of a changing of the guard situation that is already well in motion.

Rodriguez has compiled a 19-0 record after making his debut in Mexico in 2017 with a unanimous decision win over Mauricio Cruz.

The 24-year-old has entered the top 10 of The Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound rankings, currently sitting in 10th spot, but his match-up with the experienced Estrada is his toughest assignment so far.

The pair do have a few opponents in common and Bam has a points win over Carlos Cuadras - who was stopped by Estrada - on his CV, while he also has an eighth-round TKO victory over Wangek on his record.

Rodriguez picked up the title he is now challenging for by beating Cuadras and defended it twice before dropping down to flyweight.

He claimed the vacant WBO title by outpointing Cristian Gonzalez Hernandez and then became a unified champion as he added the IBF title to his collection by stopping Briton Sunny Ewards, who was previously unbeaten, in the ninth round.

Bam has opted to step back up to junior bantamweight to test himself against the best in the division, in what promises to be a fascinating showdown in Arizona. 

Strengths	Weaknesses
Jab	None
Speed and footwork
Counterpunching

Odds mentioned in this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.