Jesse Rodriguez raised his hand after defeating Juan Francisco Estrada for the Ring Magazine and WBC 115-pound titles. Photo by Amanda Westcott/Matchroom
Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez will face a 16-year pro and former major title holder from Mexico for his next outing.
No, not him.
The Ring confirmed that San Antonio’s Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs) has finalized terms for a mandatory WBC title consolidation bout against Mexico’s Pedro Guevara. The 115-pound championship clash will take place on November 9 and likely in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, according to multiple sources.
Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) will headline the show if the location holds. The details are still being worked out regarding his IBF welterweight title commitments.
Rodriguez won the RING junior bantamweight crown and regained the WBC title in a seventh-round knockout of Juan Francisco Estrada. Both fighters hit the deck in their June 29 championship bout in Phoenix, Arizona. Rodriguez recovered to put away Mexico’s Estrada (44-4, 28 KOs) and end his reign.
Their match came with a rematch clause, which Estrada initially exercised earlier this summer. However, The Ring confirmed that Estrada has moved on and will now compete in the bantamweight division.
ESPN Knockout’s Salvador ‘Chava’ Rodriguez was the first to report that development.
Estrada’s decision paved the way for Guevara (42-4-1, 22 KOs) to enter the mix.
The former WBC 108-pound titlist from Mazatlan, Mexico has won 12 of his last 13 starts since his last major title fight seven years ago. Guevara’s one loss during that span came to Carlos Cuadras in their Nov. 17 interim WBC 115-pound title fight in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Interestingly, this scenario should have set up a Rodriguez-Cuadras rematch. Rodriguez defeated the former two-time WBC 115-pound titlist to win that belt in February 2022. Cuadras fought his way back into contention but suffered an injury that prevented a title defense against Australia’s Andrew Moloney (26-4, 16 KOs).
Guevara replaced Cuadras and ended up in the right place at the right time. He claimed the interim belt in a twelve-round split decision on May 12 in Perth, Australia. The win moved him up to number 6 The Ring’s 115-pound rankings.
Rodriguez is the division’s champion and No. 5 pound-for-pound. His two 115-pound titles ended his brief stay at flyweight. Boxing’s youngest titleholder has claimed the WBO and IBF belts in back-to-back fights in 2023.
Guevara held the WBC 108-pound title from December 2014 to November 2015. His attempt to regain the belt ended in an October 2017 majority decision to Kenshiro Teraji.
