It doesn’t appear that WBO champion Jesse Rodriguez is long for 112 pounds.

The boxer nicknamed “Bam” is getting ready for his 112-pound title unification bout against IBF crown holder Sunny Edwards on Saturday at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona on DAZN.

Regardless of the result against Edwards (20-0, 4 KOs), a move up to the super flyweight division is likely in the cards for the southpaw Rodriguez (18-0, 11 KOs) in 2024. 

“This is probably my last fight at 112 pounds. I'll go up to 115. I'm ready to fight whoever,” said Rodriguez.

Rodriguez enjoyed a banner year in 2022 in the super flyweight division by beating the likes of Carlos Cuadras, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, and Israel Gonzalez. 

The 23-year-old from San Antonio picked up the WBC super flyweight title when he beat Cuadras, but he opted for 112 pounds and beat Cristian Gonzalez

Hernandez in April for the WBO title he now owns. 

Rodriguez fractured his jaw in the fight, an injury that resulted in surgery. 

One matchup in particular that is of interest to Rodriguez is a fight against Juan Francisco Estrada, the current 115-pound WBC champion. Estrada won the title Rodriguez vacated when the Mexican pound-for-pound stalwart beat Roman Gonzalez last year. 

Estrada hasn’t fought since, but a fight should be feasible between the pair next year, especially since Rodriguez and Estrada both fight under the Matchroom Boxing promotional banner. 

“[Estrada] has the WBC belt that I vacated. I want to get that back,” said Rodriguez.

Rodriguez maintained that he’s ready to face the best that the 115-pound division has to offer and wants a shot at current champions like Kazuto Ioka (WBA), Fernando Martinez (IBF), and Junto Nakatani (WBO) right off the bat. 

Rodriguez said he would take extra pleasure fighting Ioka to avenge his brother Joshua Franco’s unanimous decision loss to the Japanese fighter in June. 

“We're not here to take any tune-up fights,” said Rodriguez. “I'm here to fight the best every fight for the rest of my career. I take every fight seriously as if it's a title fight.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.