Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez might just be the best flyweight of the modern era.
In a virtuoso performance, Rodriguez stopped Sunny Edwards in the ninth round of their IBF and WBO flyweight unification fight earlier this month.
The dominant performance harpooned back to some of the best of the year. Rodriguez had shades of Terence Crawford, as well as Devin Haney — two of the most notable performances that stand-out, and Rodriguez’s hardest fight on paper was his career-defining achievement.
Rodriguez made a very good fighter look ordinary, something only great fighters can do.
Here are five possible future opponents for Bam:
Juan Francisco Estrada
This would require Rodriguez to move up in weight to the super flyweight division — a division he was a champion at prior before moving down in weight.
Estrada holds two wins over Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez, a fighter Rodriguez not just shares admiration for, but also a promoter. Rodriguez is signed to Teiken Promotions.
Add to it, that Estrada also held up his brother, Joshua Franco’s career.
Kazuto Ioka
Ioka is a historically great flyweight and super flyweight. Since he doesn’t fight in the United States or Britain often, if ever - his career often gets overlooked. If Ioka doesn’t get the fight with Estrada, a fight with Rodriguez at super flyweight would be an interesting bout.
Why? Ioka was the last man to beat Joshua Franco, the brother of Rodriguez, who retired after the fight. The bout could be seen as a revenge match with Rodriguez looking to make amends for his brother’s loss. Oh, and it would be a great fight.
Julio Cesar Martinez
The WBC flyweight champion, Julio Cesar Martinez, has had a problematic title run. He has missed weight before a fight, failed a drug test for clenbuterol only to be cleared after the fact.
Martinez is a wild man. A big puncher, who fights recklessly. He holds one of the two other titles Rodriguez doesn’t have and has a style sure to make a good fight. Yet, in the past two years, Martinez has only fought three times. He was supposed to recently on Showtime, but had Visa issues.
The question really is; would a promoter trust Martinez to make it to the fight against Rodriguez?
Angel Ayala
Ayala might not be a household name, but he can fight. He recently defeated Felix Alvarado, and now is ranked number one by the IBF. The title Rodriguez won on Saturday night.
Ayala seems to have formed a relationship with Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN. The fight is very makable and would pit 23-year-old Mexican fighter, Ayala against the 23-year-old, Rodriguez.
Artem Dalakian
A long-reigning champion, Dalakian has had a rather anonymous career. The 36-year-old flyweight holds the WBA title. He has held it for nearly six years but has been void of a major fight.
He returns in January against Seigo Yuri Akui in Japan. If he wins, this could get Rodriguez one step closer to being undisputed.
