Will Pedro Guevara expose Bam Rodriguez?

Promoter Eddie Hearn believes Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez is a future “pound-for-pound #1” as he takes on Pedro Guevara on Saturday, November 9th. With all the praise that Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn ‘Bam’ has, he has a lot of pressure on him.

A proven formula for Bam

So far, Rodriguez has mostly been beaten older fighterswhich worked perfectly for him to shed scalp former world champions. We just haven’t seen Bam face anyone of note yet, and we’ll be able to tell after Saturday.

– Juan Francisco Estrada – 34
– Srisaket Sor Rungvisai – 37
– Carlos Cuadras – 36

Guevara is 35 years oldso he fits in perfectly with the type of opposition that Bam Rodriguez fought. If Guerara had something left in the tank, he could have made this an interesting fight because Bam was there to be hit.

Bam Rodriguez did not perform well in his fight against Israel Gonzalez, and suffered a lot of facial damage in that fight. It was an eye opener for some, making it clear that Bam is beatable when it comes to someone who isn’t old and can knock him back.

The 24-year-old Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs) will defend his WBC super flyweight title against interim champion Guevara (42-4-1, 22 KOs) in the co-feature on the Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis vs. Karen Chukhadzhian II Card at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Hearn believes Bam Rodriguez can win world titles at 118 and 122. He is definitely big enough to fight in those weight classes as between fights he looks massive in size. Rodriguez doesn’t look like a super flyweight.

Hearn’s prediction for Bam

“I think Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez is a pound-for-pound future #1 in the sport. This guy has so many levels to live up to,” said Eddie Hearn Matchroom Boxingahead of WBC super flyweight champion Jesse Rodriguez’s title defense this Saturday against Pedro Guevara.

Hearn is getting ahead of himself by predicting #1 pound-for-pound status for Bam because he hasn’t fought someone who hasn’t been over the hill. With Bam Rodriguez’s massive size, at 126 he should be fighting killers like Brandon Figueroa, Rafael Espinoza, Robeisy Ramirez and Angelo Leo. Is that too much to ask? for Bam Rodriguez to beat those kind of fighters?

Now, if Bam can step up and dominate those killers, then we’re getting somewhere, but you can’t say much about him right now. Again, Rodriguez fights old guys, and it seems to be a strategy to build a fake star. Hearn made heavyweight Anthony Joshua a star without pitting him against anyone of note. Now, he’s doing it with Bam. Hearn is a master of matchups and has it down to an art.

“He is still such a young man. He’s already a multi-weight world champion,” Hearn continued about Bam Rodriguez. “We want him to unify the division at super flyweight. I believe he will go on and win at bantam and super bantam. This kid has it all.”

What Hearn isn’t saying is that the 118- and 122-lb divisions are weak. Naoya Inoue is the only good fighter at Super Bantamweight. He will either be retired or moved up to 126 by the time Bam climbs to 122.

“They definitely call me one of the greats in the lower weight classes with the way I do the so-called legendsbut I was able to stop a few of them. It really opens people’s eyes,” said Bam Rodriguez.

Did you notice the little digs Bam takes at Estrada, Cuadras and Rungvisai? No one ever considered Cuadras or Rungvisai legends. Estrada was past his prime when Bam fought him. We saw this with Estrada’s recent fights against Roman Gonzalez and Argi Cortes. Estrada was just a shell of his former self in those two fights before Bam fought him.

“It’s more motivation to live up to what they say. I don’t want to go there and perform badly and ruin my reputation. “I’m in the gym every day and I’m trying to do better than my previous performance,” Rodriguez said.