Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez could return to the ring in a unification fight in May, according to his trainer Robert Garcia.
Rodriguez, 25, made light work of Pedro Guevara in November, stopping him in three rounds to defend his WBC junior bantamweight title. He has yet to announce his next move.
Garcia, however, revealed that he had been informed by promoter Matchroom Boxing that Rodriguez is likely to fight again in May.
“Bam wants a unification fight, and hopefully the champions are available because that’s what he wants,” Garcia told BoxingScene. “Well, it’s gonna have to be any of the champions because we don’t know who’s available.”
Argentina’s Fernando Martinez – the WBA titleholder – and the WBO titlist Phumelele Cafu of South Africa are both options for Rodriguez, 21-0 (14 KOs). According to Garcia, Rodriguez, a two-division belt holder, favors a unification bout with Martinez.
Garcia added that Rodriguez could also be tempted to move up to 118lbs to fight any of the titleholders there.
“We’ll focus on unifications, and then maybe our next step could be at 118lbs against Junto Nakatani,” he said. “That would be a huge fight, and Junto is a great fighter. Bam wants to do the big fights, so if any of the champions are available to move up in weight, we’ll move up to fight them.”
Garcia embraced the possibility of Rodriguez moving up to take on Japanese star Naoya Inoue in the future. When asked how he expects a fight between the two heavy-handed fighters to play out, he responded: “Inoue is very, very powerful, very smart in the ring, very technical when it comes to landing his punches and very accurate.
“But Bam is also very smart and very fast. He’s got really good accuracy and doesn’t miss punches that much. So it’ll be a very interesting fight when that comes. Hopefully, in a couple of years, then the world will see a great fight.”
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].
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