Eddie Hearn: ‘Now Bam Rodriguez Is Carrying the Torch’

Eddie Hearn referenced the concept of “idols becoming rivals” as Matchroom Boxing’s Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez prepares to solidify his rising status by fighting junior bantamweight titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada, the most critically acclaimed and accomplished 115-pounder of the modern era.

The WBC junior bantamweight title will be on the line Aug. 29 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, in a fight to be broadcast on DAZN.

Rodriguez (19-0, 14 KOs), 24, from San Antonio, will face the 34-year-old Estrada (44-3, 28 KOs), from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico – a fighter Rodriguez watched during his childhood. Rodriguez’s supporters view this as the potential crowning achievement of his career at flyweight and junior bantamweight.

Rodriguez has previously defeated Carlos Cuadras on short notice and stopped former titleholder Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. Despite some critics noting that his opponents were past their primes, Rodriguez has turned in some indisputably impressive accomplishments. Now he has a chance to make some pound-for-pound noise with a defeat of a Mexican legend.

“Idols become rivals,” said Hearn, speaking live from Puerto Rico, where he witnessed Liam Paro upset Subriel Matias. “I think everybody’s favorite fighter is Juan Francisco Estrada from that era of great flyweights and super flyweights.”

Rodriguez, a former two-division world champion, is seeking to regain the WBC junior bantamweight title he won from Cuadras and later vacated to compete at flyweight. He became a unified WBO and IBF flyweight titleholder by stopping Sunny Edwards in December, then relinquished his titles to move back up to junior bantamweight. Rodriguez’s first fight back in the division comes against the division’s top-ranked fighter – on paper.

The big question now concerns Estrada’s inactivity. “El Gallo” hasn’t fought since December 2022, when he defeated Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez for the second time. Since 2020, Estrada has fought only four times, with two of those bouts coming against Gonzalez, a contender for the best of the era.

Hearn, who is backing Rodriguez, believes he is the next modern great.

“Now Bam is carrying the torch,” Hearn said. “He’s the new guy on the scene. Great win in the unification victory against Sunny Edwards, but now he steps up another level against a true great in Estrada.”

Hearn gave a glowing endorsement of the fight, predicting it could be one of the best of the year.

“It’s going to be wild, and it’s one of the fights of the year,” Hearn said.