Jesse Rodriguez wants to become the pound-for-pound number one fighter in the sport – and believes that starts by winning his unification showdown with Phumelela Cafu for the WBC, WBO and Ring Magazine super flyweight titles at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on Saturday July 19.
Rodriguez, 21-0 (14 KOs), is coming off a superb run including a seventh-round body shot knockout of Juan Francisco Estrada in June, in which he rose from a flash knockdown to become the first to stop “Gallo.” Rodriguez has also taken Sunny Edwards’ “0” by stoppage. Most recently, Rodriguez ripped through Pedro Guevara in November, disposing of him in the third round.
Cafu, 11-0-3 (8 KOs), will look to be the first to match Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, from San Antonio, is fighting in his home state for the first time since he became a two-weight world champion in April 2023.
‘Bam’ has certainly shot to superstardom since that night, but the ambitious 25-year-old has an even larger target in mind – starting with unifying once again on July 19 en route to becoming undisputed; then, ascending to the position atop the entire sport.
“I would love to be number one pound-for-pound,” said Rodriguez. “There’s a lot of bragging rights being there, and I feel that I can go so far forward from where I am currently at.
“I’m never satisfied, there’s always more to gain and win, so I can go ten times higher from here. I would love to go undisputed, so that’s two more fights at 115lbs, so we’ll see how it pans out.”
Rodriguez has established himself as a star despite fighting at the lighter weights, divisions that tend not to get as much attention from fans and media as the bigger men.
“It’s bad ass seeing the smaller weights shine,” Rodriguez said. “When I was an amateur, it was Chocolatito that was doing it and I was like ‘Damn, this is cool,’ so for me to be in the same position, it means a lot.”
“I’m so happy to be fighting in Dallas, it’s great to fight back in my home state, I’m happy to be back home.”
Rodriguez’s clash with Cafu headlines the Frisco card, with the chief support bout of the evening pitting the unbeaten super middleweight prospect Diego Pacheco against Trevor McCumby, who gave a brave losing effort against Caleb Plant. Team USA’s Olympic bronze medal man Omari Jones will fight for the third time in the paid ranks, taking on Alfredo Blanco over six rounds. More bouts will be added to the card in coming weeks.