Blossoming San Antonio star uses right uppercut to stop Pedro Guevara of Mexico in third round.
From the opening bell, the punches were powerful and pure. Jabs, straight lefts, body shots and, finally, a textbook uppercut that did the most damage. Then there was the impeccable footwork from Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.
Always the footwork. San Antonio’s budding superstar had it all working Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, successfully defending his WBC super flyweight title with a third-round TKO victory over Pedro Guevara of Mexico to remain undefeated. Referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped the bout, scheduled for 12 rounds, at 2 minutes, 47 seconds of the third after Rodriguez dropped Guevara with a right uppercut moments after a straight left by Rodriguez knocked down his opponent earlier in the round. “I kind of knew it was going to end this way,” said Rodriguez, 24, the youngest male world champion in boxing and widely recognized as one of the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighters. “When you have that feeling a fighter knows .” Guevara was the mandatory challenger for Rodriguez, having defeated Andrew Maloney of Australia to become the WBC’s interim 115-pound champion. But he was no match for Rodriguez, who came out of his corner after the opening bell focused and aggressive, using his superior footwork to cut off the ring and provide punching angles. It was the first time the 35-year-old Guevara has been stopped in his career. The southpaw Rodriguez, who stopped legendary 115-pound Mexican world champion Juan Francisco Estrada in June, has KO’d opponents in a variety of ways in his career. This was the first time he’s accomplished it using a right uppercut. “At that point of the fight I was just having fun, really,” Rodriguez said. “It was just coming naturally.” Rodriguez said he wants to unify the belts at 115 pounds, with talk of a possible showdown with legendary Nicaraguan champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez beginning to heat up. “I’m ready for it,” Rodriguez said. “If the unification don’t work out, why not?” Rodriguez’s promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, praised Rodriguez as already one of the biggest stars in boxing before weighing in on a possible fight with Chocolatito. “That was an artist at work,” Hearn said of Rodriguez’s domination of Guevara. “You don’t understand this young man is 24 years of age, an exceptional talent. You talk about the future of boxing in this country. The future of boxing around the world. “We want to see him unify the super flyweight division. If we can’t unify, Chocolatito is the fight.”
WBC Matchroom Boxing Jesse ``Bam'' Rodriguez Pedro Guevara Ricky Gonzalez Juan Francisco Estrada Eddie Hearn Andrew Maloney San Antonio Philly Mexico Wells Fargo Center Australia Mexican Nicaraguan Roman ``Chocolatito'' Gonzalez KO
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