PHOENIX – Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and Juan Francisco Estrada could be fighting for more than just the junior bantamweight title.
There is also the possibility that it will become a stepping stone for monsters.
Naoya Inoue, who earned a reputation as a “monster” with his dramatic KO of Luis Neri on Monday, will face Rodriguez in a heated June 29 match at the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix on Wednesday. It was impossible to ignore in the press conference for the Estrada fight.
On a stage just steps from the Phoenix Suns' home floor, both fighters talked about their big plans. It all comes down to winning the World Boxing Council's 115-pound title.
The winner moves on, taking a step that could lead to Inoue asserting pound-for-pound supremacy.
After the official press conference, Rodriguez spoke about Inoue, who is at the top of the pound-for-pound discussion due to his close fight with Terrence Crawford.
“I think I can see myself fighting him someday,” Rodriguez said of Inoue.
Estrada, the current WBC 115-pound champion, has already talked about facing Inoue.
Inoue was called out after defeating Roman Gonzalez by majority decision in their second rematch, also held at Desert Diamond, in December 2022.
“He still wants to fight him,” Estrada's manager and promoter Juan Hernandez said last December.
According to Hernandez, there were no formal negotiations to face Inoue. Estrada instead pursued a fight with World Boxing Association 115-pound champion Kazuto Ioka, who will face International Boxing Federation champion Fernando Martinez of Argentina on July 7 in Japan.
If Estrada defeats Rodriguez, Hernandez predicts he could face Ioka in Japan as the next step towards a date with Inoue.
However, it is not yet clear what Inoue is planning. He defeated Neri at 122 pounds in the junior featherweight division. There's also speculation that he might step up and take on the 126-pound featherweight division.
Rodriguez thinks that will happen.
“Well, I think he’ll get bored at 122 and move on to 126,” Rodriguez said.
There has been a lot of talk on social media about lightweight champion Gervonta Davis facing Inoue. However, given the difference in weight, this is unlikely.
Probably the winner of Inoue vs. Rodriguez-Estrada.
Matchroom's Eddie Hearn, promoter of Rodriguez vs. Estrada, said, “That's right,” and called Inoue vs. Davis a fantasy. “I would love to see Bam fight Inoue at 118 or 122 pounds.”
At 24 years old, Rodriguez is already a 112- and 115-pound champion and has room to grow.
“I want to unify the 115-pound title,” said the San Antonio fighter, who will be competing for the third time in the Phoenix area, including a beatdown of Sonny Edwards for the flyweight title at the Desert Diamond. “I think I can do two more fights at 115, maybe three.”
Hearn said one possibility could be the accomplished Roman Gonzalez, who ranks No. 1 as the lightest fighter of all time in various pound-for-pound ratings. He is scheduled to face Colombia's Rober Barrera on July 12 at his home in Managua, Nicaragua. He hasn't fought since losing in a rematch with Estrada.
Rodriguez's trainer, Robert Garcia, expects Rodriguez to eventually scale up.
“100 percent, we're not thinking about Estrada,” Garcia said Wednesday. “Personally, I'd like to see him win the undisputed at 115. But if it's 118, we could do that too.”
But first, Bam must defeat the 34-year-old Estrada.
“My hand will be raised on June 29th, whether it's a decision or a knockout,” he said.
However, Estrada questioned Rodriguez's undefeated record (19-0, 12 KOs). He won the WBC junior bantam belt with a decision win over Carlos Cuadras at Footprint in February 2022. About four months later, in San Antonio, he defended Srisaket Sor Rungvisai with an eight-round stoppage.
“I have to say he’s a good fighter,” Mexico’s Estrada (44-3, 23 KOs) said through an interpreter. “But Rungvisai and Cuadras…I think they were leaving.”
But Rodriguez countered that he had already heard such stories.
“People didn't think I could stop Rungvisai,” he said. “They probably didn't think I could stop Sonny Edwards. They probably didn't think I could stop Estrada.
“But I'm a different race. I'm a different animal. I'm here to shock the world.”
For now, that world belongs to Inoue.