GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez added another world title belt on June 13.
A clash against the recognized pound-for-pound best fighter in boxing looms on the horizon.
Rodriguez dropped Antonio Vargas twice en route to a sixth-round knockout win before a partisan crowd at the Desert Diamond Arena. Rodriguez improved to 24-0 with17 knockouts and won the WBA bantamweight title.
Saturday marked the third weight class the 26-year-old won a world title belt.
Prior to the Vargas fight, Rodriguez vacated the Ring Magazine junior bantamweight championship and the unified world title belts.
Despite being the underdog, Vargas came to fight from the opening round, outboxing Rodriguez in spurts. He punctuated the second round, throwing and landing a series of combinations to the head and body of the smaller Rodriguez, who was against the ropes.
The southpaw Rodriguez was able to slowly get into punching range of Vargas, leading to good exchanges between the two.
Moments into the fifth round, a combination to the head dropped Vargas to the canvas. Vargas beat the count and despite still fighting on wobbly legs, committed to continue engaging with Rodriguez in the pocket.
About a minute into the sixth round, Rodriguez dropped Vargas with a two-punch combination to the head. Rodriguez propelled himself onto the ropes in a corner, facing the crowd, as referee Chris Flores counted Vargas out at 1:15.
“I did feel his punches,” Rodriguez said after the fight. “He was stronger than I expected. We stuck to the game plan, broke him down and was able to get the knockout.”
Before the fight, co-promoter Eddie Hearn spoke about a possible showdown between Rodriguez and Ring Magazine and undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue of Japan that could take place next January or February.
Trainer Robert Garcia, who is a 1993 Channel Islands High School graduate and former IBF junior lightweight champion, told The Star he wants one more fight for Rodriguez at 118 pounds. Prior to a possible fight against Inoue, Garcia hopes Rodriguez will return to the ring this fall in a unification fight against WBO world titleholder Christian Medina of Mexico or WBC titleholder Takuma Inoue of Japan.
Takuma is the younger brother of Naoya Inoue.
A fight in Rodriguez’s hometown of San Antonio is also in play.
Saturday also marked Rodriguez’s fourth time fighting in the Phoenix area. Glendale is a suburb of Phoenix. Rodriguez first won a world title belt in February 2022, defeating Carlos Cuadras of Mexico to win the vacant WBC junior bantamweight title.
Vargas, who resides in the Orlando suburb of Kissimmee, Florida, falls to 19-2-1, 11 KOs. Vargas overcame a knockdown to stop Winston Guerrero of Nicaragua in December 2024 to win the interim WBA bantamweight title. The sanctioning body elevated Vargas to full titleholder in May 2025, two months before fighting to a draw against Daigo Higa of Japan, where he retained the title.
The 29-year-old Vargas represented the United States at the 2016 Olympic Games.
In the co-feature, in a clash of unbeaten junior featherweights, Arturo Cardenas of Mexico defeated Jordan Martinez by unanimous decision. Scores were 97-93, 98-92 and 100-90 for Cardenas, who improved to 18-0-2, 9 KOs.
Martinez, who resides in Phoenix, dropped to 16-1-1, 15 KOs.
The clash between Cardenas and Martinez was a rematch of their fight on Feb. 28 that ended in a split-decision draw and also took place at the Desert Diamond Arena.
Hard-hitting junior middleweight prospect Hector Beltran of Dallas improved to 8-0, 6 KOs, stopping Shaquile Felicia (3-2, 1 KO) of Phoenix in the second round.
Cardenas and Beltran are also trained by Garcia.
Francisco A. Salazar covers boxing for The Star. He has also written for Ring Magazine, Boxingscene and Fightnews. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at FSalazarBoxing.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: ‘Bam’ Rodriguez adds another title with sixth-round KO
Reporting by Francisco A. Salazar, Special to Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Francisco A. Salazar, Special to Ventura County Star | USA TODAY Network
