Two hard body shots from Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez sent Juan Francisco Estrada to the mat apron, forcing the bout to be stopped in the seventh round at the Footprint Center in Phoenix on Saturday night.
With the win, Rodriguez won the WBC super flyweight world title and the Ring Magazine title and improved to 20-0. Estrada's loss was his fourth of 44 wins.
“It was a tough fight, but stepping into the ring with the legend that is Gallo and winning the belt made it even more special,” Rodriguez said after the bout. “I know he's a tough fighter and it was an honor to share the ring with Gallo.”
Rodriguez was knocked down in the fourth round and said he always wanted to know what it felt like to lie on the canvas, but once the winning punch landed he knew he had won.
“When I saw him fall to the floor I knew it was the end,” said Rodriguez, who is now in the running for the undisputed title in his current weight class.
Rodriguez felt it was the best win of his career. During his post-game press conference, he was asked about the atmosphere in Phoenix, where he'd won twice and once in Glendale.
“Thank you to Phoenix Arizona, this is exactly what we dreamed of,” Matchroom Boxing president Eddie Hearn said, acknowledging the passion of the crowd.
Estrada said he wants a rematch as soon as possible.
Rodriguez moved up to the super flyweight division after winning the IBF and WBO world flyweight championship belts in his last fight at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona in December of last year.
More info on the match, including live updates of all the action from Phoenix:
Juan Francisco Estrada knocks down Jesse Rodriguez
Juan Francisco Estrada got back in the fight with a knockdown of Jesse Rodriguez in the sixth round. The crowd was in high spirits and on their feet for the final two minutes of the round.
Rodriguez appears to laugh it off and go on to win the match, but things just got a lot more interesting.
Jesse Rodriguez hits Juan Francisco Estrada with a bang
The third round was a great one for Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, who rocked Juan Francisco Estrada with uppercuts and hooks and got the crowd going. At this point, Rodriguez seemed to have the upper hand in the ring, and the chants of “Jesse! Jesse!” from the crowd were getting louder and louder.
The fight may have ended quickly in the fourth round, when Rodriguez dropped Estrada to the canvas with a left uppercut and left jab combination.
Juan Francisco Estrada enters the ring
After two moving national anthems (one for Mexico and one for the United States), main event fighters Juan Francisco Estrada and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez entered the ring. Bam was met with plenty of cheers and boos, but the packed stands below at the Footprint Center cheered Estrada, the pride of the Mexican state of Sonora.
Estrada vs. Rodriguez Boxing Main Card: Sonny Edwards Overcomes Gnarly Cut to Beat Adrian Curiel
It was an ugly, bloody fight, with Sonny Edwards suffering a nasty gash on his forehead in the sixth round, but referee Mark Nelson stopped the bout after the eighth round, leaving the decision to the scorecards.
Edwards showed enough boxing to win by unanimous decision, 90–82, 88–84, 87–85, but his antics in the ring did not go down well with the pro-Mexican crowd, which supported fellow flyweight contender Adrian Curiel.
After the match, fans booed Edwards as he was interviewed in the ring.
“I'm more upset than any of the 10,000 fans here,” he said. “For the second time in a row, we left Arizona uglier than we came in.”
Edwards lost to Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in Arizona last December.
He apologized to the fans but said he felt he won the match.
Edwards was pretty antics in the ring, but the fans didn't react well: When a cut occurred and the referee paused the bout to check on Edwards, Curiel's outstretched arm seemed to say, “This is what happens when you mess around.”
Estrada vs. Rodriguez Boxing Main Card: Yamilez Mercado defends women's title
Mexico's Yamilez Mercado had the support of the crowd and the judges in his title defense, defending his WBC World Super Bantamweight belt against Ramla Ali in a 10-round bout in London by decisions of 98-92, 98-93, 97-93. It was a unanimous decision in Mercado's favor.
Ali's cornerback was so infuriated by the call that he yelled at anyone who would listen after the call was announced. Mercado improved to 24-3, while Ali fell to 9-2.
Estrada vs. Rodriguez main card: Glendale's Danny Barrios loses for the first time in 16 fights
Danny Barrios was in the ring just a few miles away in his home town of Glendale, Arizona, at the Footprint Center, opening the Matchroom Boxing main card fight on Saturday night, Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Jesse Rodriguez.
Barrios fought all ten rounds despite being underdogs, but lost to WBC Continental Americas super bantamweight champion Arturo Cardenas by majority decision 95-95, 97-93, 96-94, marking the first defeat of his career.
Barrios started well but was hit with heavy punches by Mexico's Cardenas, an up-and-coming 122-pound boxer. Barrios never gave up, and his passion and willingness to trade punches brought the crowd to its feet after the eighth round.
Then the crowd, or at least some of the fans, turned on him.
In the ninth round, Barrios tried to get away from Cardenas, who yelled at him to get closer and attack, causing Barrios to stick out his tongue in defiance, eliciting boos from the crowd.
In the tenth and final round, Barrios needed a knockdown and Cardenas continued to chase him around the ring. Barrios landed a few punches but never fought head-on in the center of the ring. The bout ended with Barrios being booed by much of the crowd and Cardenas being cheered.
Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Jesse Rodriguez undercard: Gabriel Murata defeats Carlos Fontes by unanimous decision
Despite a slow-paced, action-free bout with a packed crowd at Phoenix's Footprint Center for the main card, Gabriel Muratala of Fontana, California, won by the judges' scores of 79-73, 78-74 and 77-75 to improve to 12-0.
Fontes is from Mexico but was announced to be fighting out of Phoenix.
Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez was there as announcer and looked happy and healthy.
The main card will be available on DAZN shortly, with Phoenix’s Danny Barrios taking on the fight of his life with the WBC regional title on the line.
Phoenix's Fabian Rojo shines at home
With Matchroom Boxing president Eddie Hearn sitting in the front row with a perfect view of the action, the second bout of the night at the Footprint Center featured a masterful performance from Phoenix's Fabian Rojo, who stopped New Mexico's Daniel Gonzalez with a powerful left hook in the second round as a welterweight.
Rojo (9-0) knocked Gonzalez down three times before the bout was stopped. Another left punch staggered Gonzalez in the first round, and Gonzalez was so impressed he lifted Rojo by his arms after the bout was over.
Rojo, 22, had fought only one boxer with a winning record before Saturday.
Promising talent Leonardo Rubalcaba wins by decision over William Flenoy
Leonardo Rubalcaba, a 21-year-old promising fighter who signed a promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing just two weeks ago, defeated William Flenoy by unanimous decision by scores of 60-54, 59-55, 59-55 in the opening bout on the Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Jesse Rodriguez undercard at the Footprint Center in Phoenix on Saturday.
The bout went six rounds, but Rubalcaba (8-0) was clearly the better fighter, and he is trained by one of boxing's best talent trainers, Robert Garcia.
When does the Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez fight start?
The main card features four bouts, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Phoenix and concluding with the title bout between Estrada and Rodriguez.
How to watch the main event between Juan Francisco Estrada and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez
when: Saturday, June 29. Main card bouts will kick off at 6:30 PM Phoenix time (Pacific time).
where: Footprint Center, Phoenix
Streaming: DAZN
Fee: A DAZN subscription is required, which costs $19.99 per month for 12 months, $29.99 for a one-month pass, or $224.99 for an annual subscription.
Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Jesse Rodriguez undercard
- Main Event: Juan Francisco “El Gallo” Estrada vs. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez for the WBC World and Ring Magazine super flyweight titles
- Sonny Edwards (20-1) vs. Adrian Curiel (24-5-1), flyweight contender
- Yamileth Mercado (23-3) vs. Ramla Ali (9-1), WBC Women's Super Bantamweight World Title
- Arturo Cardenas (13-0-1) vs. Danny Barrios (15-0, of Glendale, Ariz.) for the WBC Continental Americas super bantamweight title.
“Before the Bell” fight
Gabriel Murata (11-0) vs. Carlos Fontes (23-3-1), bantamweight
Fabian Rojo (8-0, Phoenix, NC) vs. Daniel Gonzalez (5-1, NC), welterweight
Leonardo Rubalcaba (7-0) vs. William Flenoy (3-3-1), super lightweight
Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Jesse Rodriguez Prediction
Experience favors Estrada in this bout, but he hasn't fought since his epic battle with Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale in December 2022. After a year and a half, he will finally defend his WBC title, but the extended break may prove costly. Rodriguez certainly looks like the future of the division, and that future may arrive on Saturday in Phoenix. The bout is expected to go all the way to 12 rounds, with the younger Rodriguez the odds-on favorite to win.
