Jesse Rodriguez eyes P4P top spot

Jesse Rodriguez wants to become the pound-for-pound number one fighter in the sport.

Rodriguez believes that starts by winning his unification showdown with Phumelele Cafu.

The pair battle for the WBC, WBO and Ring Magazine Super-Flyweight titles at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on Saturday July 19, live worldwide on DAZN.

Rodriguez (21-0 14 KOs) is looking to unify at Super-Flyweight having done so at Flyweight in spectacular fashion against Sunny Edwards in Arizona in December 2023, following that win by collecting the belts he puts on the line against unbeaten South African Cafu (11-0-3 8 KOs) with a stunning KO win over Juan Francisco Estrada in the same state last June to become a two-time Super-Flyweight ruler.

The San Antonio ace fights in his home state for the first time since he became a two-weight World champion April 2023 when he collected the vacant WBO Flyweight strap, and has fought at the Ford Center before, moving to 11-0 there in February 2020.

‘Bam’ has certainly shot to superstardom since that night, but the ambitious 25 year old has more targets in mind, starting with unifying once again on July 19 and looking to become undisputed and climb to the top the list of the best fighters on the planet.

“I would love to be number one pound-for-pound,” said Rodriguez. “There’s a lot of bragging rights being there, and I feel that I can go so far forward from where I am currently at.

“I’m never satisfied, there’s always more to gain and win, so I can go ten times higher from here. I would love to go undisputed, so that’s two more fights at 115lbs, so we’ll see how it pans out.

“It’s bad ass seeing the smaller weights shine. When I was an amateur, it was Chocolatito that was doing it and I was like ‘Damn, this is cool,’ so for me to be in the same position, it means a lot.

“I’m so happy to be fighting in Dallas, it’s great to fight back in my home state, I’m happy to be back home.”

Rodriguez’s clash with Cafu tops a stacked card in Frisco, with the chief support bout of the evening pitting the explosive and unbeaten Diego Pacheco defending his USWBC and WBO International Super-Middleweight titles against Trevor McCumby.

Team USA’s Olympic bronze medal man Omari Jones fights for the third time in the paid ranks, taking on Alfredo Blanco over six rounds, with much more action to be added to the card in due course.