Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez is aware of the extent to which his success has made him a target for rival fighters.
On Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia he defends his WBC and Ring Magazine flyweight titles against Pedro Guevara, on the undercard of Jaron Ennis-Karen Chukhadzhian, aware of the extent to which the past 12 months have made him a significant favourite.
In December 2023 he stopped the then-undefeated Sunny Edwards in what had previously been considered one of the world’s most competitive match-ups, and earlier in 2024 he then moved up in weight to stop Juan Francisco Estrada, the 35-year-old Guevara’s fellow Mexican.
As a consequence Rodriguez, 24, enters Saturday’s fight recognised among the world’s very finest fighters, and he recognised: “It’s a huge opportunity for him, probably the biggest of his career, so he’ll be hungrier than ever to take what I have. But I don’t see anyone beating me, I’m on a different level mentally and physically, so on November 9 you’ll witness me putting on another show.
“This is an important fight because there’s huge things that can happen if I can beat him. I’m taking this just as seriously as my recent fights. Whatever people say I don’t let it get to me, whether it’s good or bad.
“I know Pedro is going to come with everything – winning this fight can change his life – but sorry to him, I’m not going to let that happen. My life is in a good position right now, so to even perform badly is going to look bad on me. I’m coming to shine on November 9.
“I know he’s never been stopped but I believe I can stop him. If I want to look good and make a statement, I’m going to go out there and look to stop him.
“I have to get past this fight first but the goal is to go for undisputed in 2025. I’m taking this fight as seriously as ever, training my ass off like any other fight – we’re going to handle business and then we can talk about 2025.
“You don’t want to miss this because ‘Boots’ and I are two of the best fighters in boxing and on November 9 we’re going to go out and perform and shine. You’re going to witness a great show from the both of us. And still.”
“Boots” Ennis and Chukhadzhian, incidentally, fight for the second time. Ennis defeated Chukhadzhian in January 2023, before seeing him installed as his mandatory challenger.
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