PHOENIX – Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez is confident he can stop the technically proficient Juan Francisco Estrada on Saturday in a 115-bout bout that promoter Eddie Hearn says has Fight of the Year potential.
“I think I have the skills to stop anyone,’’ Rodriguez said Thursday during a news conference at an old renovated building in the Phoenix warehouse district south of Footprint Center. “I think I can prove everybody wrong all over again.’’
Rodriguez is favored to beat Estrada, but few think he can knock out the accomplished Mexican, who is known for his unerring tactical skill, including disciplined defense.
The difference in age between the two is thought to favor the 24-year-old Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs), a Mexican-American from San Antonio who is a decade younger than Estrada (44-3, 27 KOs).
Estrada’s experience and patient implementation of fundamental boxing skill has been evident, especially in close fights.
He is 2-1 against Roman Gonzalez, perhaps the best ever in the history of the lightest weight classes.
In their first fight, he lost a unanimous decision to Gonzalez in 2012 in Los Angeles.
Estrada won the next two, first by split decision in 2021 in Dallas and then by majority decision in 2022 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, a Phoenix suburb.
It’s a record that suggests Estrada knows how to win the close ones.
Estrada and his trainer, Jose Alfredo Caballero, believe Rodriguez has yet to face a fighter with Estrada’s consistent experience at the sport’s highest high level.
Rodriguez beat two titleholders in Carlos Cuadras and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, but Caballero says both were past their primes.
“Cuadras and Rungvisai, they were done,’’ Caballero said.
Estrada is not, he said.
Estrada is 34 and looks younger.
“He looks fresh,’’ said Hearn, who arrived in Phoenix in time for the news conference after a long flight from the U.K., following a newser announcing the Anthony Joshua-Daniel Dubois fight.
The Estrada-Rodriguez “SuperFly” bout, Hearn said, could be the best of this year. If it is, there’s a chance it also will have some pound-for-pound implications.
Rodriguez comes into the fight ranked ninth or 10th in most of the current pound-for-pound ratings.
“If he were to deliver a phenomenal performance, Bam could jump into the top alongside Naoya Inoue, Oleksandr Usyk and Terence Crawford,’’ Hearn said.
But Estrada, nicknamed “El Gallo,” stands in the way.
“I’m going to go all action right away, but in an intelligent way,’’ Estrada said. “It’s going to be a real good weekend, especially for Mexican people.
“It’s a chance to show that El Gallo still has things to do in this sport.’’
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