Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez Now Sits On The Iron Throne

Rodriguez would regain his composure, and in the third round, he hurt Estrada badly with a right hook. He would again get a little too confident, and Estrada would land a straight right hand, which stunned Rodriguez. By the fourth round, Estrada and Rodriguez had made multiple adjustments. Rodriguez sensed there was an opportunity to hurt Estrada, so he landed a left uppercut and then a straight left hand, sending Estrada down for the first time in the fight. Estrada looked badly hurt, but since it was towards the end of the round, he beat the count and made it to his corner.

In the fifth round, we saw Rodriguez at a new master level as he was shifting, pop-shotting, and making Estrada look like the older fighter. Although Estrada was getting outclassed that round, he never lost focus and studied Rodriguez’s patterns. Then came the sixth round, and after downloading the data from the previous round, Estrada landed three consecutive straight right hands, with the third sending Rodriguez down for the first time in his career. “I got a little careless, and that’s why I got dropped,” said Rodriguez after the fight, reflecting on hitting the canvas for the first time.

It was the wake-up call he needed, and in the seventh round, Rodriguez came out determined to right the wrong, so he applied a ton of pressure hoping to create a moment. He certainly did as Rodriguez, towards the middle of the round, shifted slightly to his right and, with a ton of torque, landed a left hook to Estrada’s liver, sending him crashing down instantaneously. As Estrada was curled up in pain and the referee gave him the ten count, Rodriguez knew he wasn’t getting up and confidently raised his arms. The referee waived the fight, and just like that, Rodriguez was crowned king.

It was a fight that won’t be forgotten anytime soon as Rodriguez displayed master-level skills against Estrada, a future hall of famer. On the other hand, Estrada showed why he is a legend and still has the skills to compete against younger elite talent. So what happens next?

Are You Ready for ‘Bam’ Rodriguez vs. Estrada 2? 

During the post-fight interview, it was revealed that Estrada has a rematch clause in the contract, which means we could see this fight in the fall. Although Rodriguez would like to stay on the path of becoming undisputed at super flyweight, he wasn’t opposed to fighting Estrada again. When Chris Mannix asked Estrada whether he would exercise that clause, he didn’t hesitate one bit and said he would do better in the rematch.

Eddie Hearn was smiling hard and loves the idea of a rematch, which would draw a bigger crowd, given how this fight played out. The expectation is that the rematch will be just as good, with Estrada returning from a shorter layoff. Will Rodriguez vs. Estrada get nominated for Fight of the Year? I don’t see why it wouldn’t, but if the rematch is any better, it may get two nominations for the same category.