BOXING NEWS | Jesse Rodriguez relinquishes his WBC Super Flyweight Championship
October 27, 2022GAME OKBET : Surprising everyone, on Wednesday, WBC super flyweight champion Jesse Rodriguez “Bam” announced that he will be moving down to the 112-pound category to try to become a two-division world champion at the young age of 22.
Rodriguez (17-0, 11 KOs) was fighting Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, who was listed as his number one contender by the World Boxing Council (WBC), and Gonzalez was on his way to taking Rodriguez’s crown.
The 22-year-old Bam Rodriguez has cited a desire to challenge WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez and IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards as his stated reason for relinquishing his 115-pound championship.
As opposed to defending his title against four-division world champions like Chocolatito Gonzalez or Juan Francisco Estrada, they are far more winnable battles for Bam Rodriguez.
Boxing aficionados will remind you that Bam defeated Chocolatito twice in 2017 and that he knocked out two-time WBC super flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in the eighth round in June.
When Rungvisai defeated Chocolatito two times, he was already 30 years old and at the height of his career. When Bam Rodriguez overcame Rungvisai, he faced a very different opponent from the one who had been fighting for 35 years. Rungvisai was not the same warrior he had been five years before when he faced Chocolatito.
In order to fight in a lower weight class, “The WBC has been formally notified by our unbeaten champion in the super flyweight division Jesse Rodrguez of his desire to renounce his Green and Gold Belt,” the organization said.
NEW Super Flyweight Champion, Jesse Rodriguez
In 2022, Jessie had a successful year, winning the vacant WBC super flyweight championship after beating Carlos Cuadras and going on to defeat Rungvisai and Israel Gonzalez.
Bam Rodriguez’s victory against Israel Gonzalez in September 2016 was a squeaker. Bam received favorable scores from two of the three judges (118-109 and 117-110).
Of the three judges, the third one’s 114-113 verdict was the one with the most plausible justification. Yes, the battle was that close.
As the result of this fight shown, Bam isn’t as skilled as some OKBET boxing fans had assumed, and he would have been knocked out by Chocolatito if he hadn’t voluntarily given up the WBC belt.
Bam Rodriguez, by dropping to 112, will have an easier time winning titles from both Julio Cesar Martinez and Sunny Edwards.
