Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez has found that the best way to ensure he’ll fight at maximum level is to know he’s in tough versus an elite opponent.

 The philosophy worked well in pushing him to defeat the likes of Sunny Edwards, Carlos Cuadras and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.

And now Rodriguez, 24, is banking on it to motivate him to defeat his most experienced opponent yet, Juan Francisco “Gallo” Estrada.

Rodriguez’s trainer, Robert Garcia, told BoxingScene Monday that Rodriguez “is very close” to finalizing a June 29 DAZN-streamed bout against Mexico’s two-division world champion Estrada (44-3, 38 KOs) at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

“From our side, it’s a done deal. We got everything we asked for,” Garcia told BoxingScene. “We’re just waiting on ‘Gallo,’ but from what I understand, they’ve already got their money part settled.”

Estrada, who’ll turn 34 on April 14, will defend the WBC super-flyweight belt he hasn’t defended since Dec. 3, 2022, when he repeated a narrow decision over Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, at the same Glendale arena.

“After our last fight [against Edwards], ‘Bam’ said he didn’t want to go back to 112, especially knowing [WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar] Martinez has canceled some fights,” Garcia said. “Moving up to 115 was more on his mind.”

And even though Rodriguez’s partner is giving birth to their first child next month, he green-lighted the Estrada bout because of the caliber of the opponent.

“That’s what motivates ‘Bam,’” Garcia said. “He doesn’t want to cut corners or take easy fights. Ideally, he’d like to wait a few months and truly enjoy the time with his new baby, but if it’s ‘Gallo,’ he’s ready to fight.

“He just wants big fights because he’s learned he doesn’t get motivated for the smaller fights. Look at what he did against Sunny Edwards. That was just a beautiful performance.”

In December, also in Glendale, Rodriguez rallied to batter and cut Edwards, forcing the Brit’s corner to stop the bout after the ninth round.