At this point, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez’s fights have become appointment viewing, so make sure the evening of June 13 is without conflict.
An individual connected to the three-belt super-flyweight champion Rodriguez, 23-0 (16 KOs), told BoxingScene Wednesday that his next bout is being targeted for that date, with the primary effort to bring the bout to the greater Phoenix area.
The front-runner to be Rodriguez’s opponent is WBA bantamweight champion Antonio Vargas, 19-1-1 (11 KOs), whose co-promoter is Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, which promotes Rodriguez, 26.
San Antonio’s Rodriguez is coming off five consecutive knockouts/stoppages against four former or active champions, including Sunny Edwards, Juan Francisco Estrada, Phumelela Cafu and Fernando Daniel “Puma” Martinez.
Rodriguez sought to stand as undisputed super-flyweight champion, but IBF champion Willibaldo Garcia is bound to defend his belt next month versus mandatory opponent Andrew Moloney.
The plan is for the pound for pound candidate Rodriguez to capture a world title in a third division against Vargas, then return to San Antonio for the undisputed super-flyweight bout against the Garcia-Moloney winner.
Rodriguez has fought three times in Arizona within the past four years, defeating former two-division champion Carlos Cuadras by unanimous decision in 2022, retiring Edwards in 2023 and knocking out then-champion Estrada in 2024.
