Boxing

Jesse Rodriguez: Age, titles, net worth, professional boxing record & next fight

bet365 News Team Updated: Jul 01 2024 17:02

Everything you need to know about American professional boxer and two-division champion Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez.

Born	January 20, 2000
Age	24
Birthplace	San Antonio, Texas, US
Resides	San Antonio, Texas, US
Nickname	Bam
Height	5'4"
Reach	67"
Stance	Southpaw
Weight Division	Flyweight
Professional Record	20-0
Amateur Record	19-2
Next Fight	TBD

Rodriguez delivers on early promise

After a strong amateur career, winning national titles and a silver at the Junior World Championships in 2015, Rodriguez stepped up to the professional ranks when still a teenager, beating Mauricio Cruz by a unanimous decision in March 2017.

He quickly progressed, producing his first KO victory against Jorge Mosqueira in his fourth pro fight, taking his opponent out in the second of four rounds in November 2017.

After a TKO success in his next bout against Santiago Sanchez Buyano, he recorded a second career KO when taking on Armando Vazquez in May 2018.

Rodriguez kept winning and really made fans take notice with a first-round knockout of former WBC light flyweight title challenger Janiel Rivera in September 2020. He then took two rounds to get past Saul Juarez in December of the same year.

Cuadras falls as Rodriguez reaches the top

A four-round KO victory against Jose Alejandro Burgos led to Rodriguez's first world title shot, taking on Carlos Cuadras in Phoenix, Arizona on February 5th, 2022.

The 23-year-old had initially been on the undercard of Cuadras' fight with Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, only for the Thailand native to withdraw with five days notice. Rodriguez was named as his replacement in the same week that he had signed a multi-fight deal with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing.

Despite being Rodriguez's first fight at super flyweight for over three years, Cuadras could not handle him. Rodriguez scored the only knockdown of the bout in the third round and triumphed by unanimous decision.

That victory made him the youngest active title-holder in the sport.

Sor and Gonzalez seen off

Sor Rungvisai was next up and was the latest to fall victim to the hometown hero in San Antonio, with an eighth-round barrage from Rodriguez leading to a TKO win after he had already knocked his opponent down.

His second super-flyweight defense saw him win another unanimous decision against Israel Gonzalez in September 2022. However, that fight was not without controversy as he was deducted a point for a low blow in the eighth round, while a similar shot went unpunished in the 11th.

That proved to be Rodriguez's last fight at super flyweight, for now at least, with him deciding to vacate his WBC belt to drop down to flyweight.

Different division, same success

However, his status meant his drop in weight division did not automatically result in a drop down the rankings and he was immediately ranked as the top contender for the WBO flyweight crown after Junto Nakatani had vacated that title to move up to super flyweight.

Rodriguez was booked to face Cristian Gonzalez in San Antonio and recorded yet another unanimous decision victory, albeit winning the WBO belt did not come without incident.

Speaking afterwards, the 23-year-old revealed he had suffered a broken jaw in the sixth round.

Edwards fight

Rodriguez faced the four-time defending IBF flyweight champ Sunny Edwards in December 2023. A dominant performance from Bam ended with a ninth-round stoppage, securing him the IBF flyweight title.