Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez v Cristian Gonzalez 8th April 2023

[TIC]

first title fight for bam at flyweight. vacant wbo flyweight title on the line

[TIC]

confirmed undercard fights for this card
mj akhmadaliev v marlon tapales, raymond ford v jessie magdaleno, thomas mattice v ramiro cesena

[Master]

Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez will attempt to become a two-weight world champion when he takes on Mexico’s Cristian Gonzalez this weekend.

Boxing’s youngest world champion is seeking to build upon a successful 2022 when he fights for the vacant WBO world flyweight title.

The 23-year-old (17-0, 11 KOs) hasn’t fought since successfully defending his WBC super flyweight strap with a unanimous decision win over Israel Gonzalez in September.

Rodriguez has now vacated that belt to compete at flyweight, with Gonzalez stringing together a nine-bout win streak since suffering his sole defeat in 2019 – a split-decision loss to Angel Ayala Lardizabal.

This WBO flyweight title fight will take place on Saturday, April 8.

It is being held at the Tech Port Arena in San Antonio, Texas.

The undercard action will get going from midnight UK time with the main event ringwalks expected at around 3am.

MAIN EVENT:
Jesse Rodriguez vs. Cristian Gonzalez – For vacant WBO flyweight title
Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs. Marlon Tapales – For WBA and IBF super bantamweight title
Raymond Ford vs. Jessie Magdaleno
Thomas Mattice vs. Ramiro Cesena
Israil Madrimov vs. Raphael Igbokwe
Marc Castro vs. Ricardo Lopez Torres
Khalil Coe vs. Aaron Casper
Jesus Martinez vs. Jose Lopez

Brit star Sunny Edwards called out Rodriguez after he out-boxed Felix Alvarado to claim an unanimous decision victory in November.

“I think the biggest fight out there for me and probably the most realistic and reliable to be made would be the ‘Bam’ Rodriguez fight,” Edwards told talkSPORT.

“I think that’s a massive fight, he’s previously stated he wants to come over to the UK to fight me.

“To the best of my knowledge he’s got a shot at the WBO world title that was recently vacated by Junto Nakatani, so all be it he comes through that.

“I’ve just cleared my mandatory and I’ve done everything that’s asked of me every single time, I’ve tried to make the big fights in between to no avail.

“I can’t just stay surviving at flyweight fighting killer mandatories for not as much credit or exposure as I probably deserve, so if I can’t get… the unifications then I’ll be looking either up or down in weight straight for a world title fight.

“I only want the big interesting fights that will make a big event, I don’t really want to pick easy routes or to try and hold out and keep my belt for as long as possible and take easy fights. I’m completely sincere in wanting the biggest fights out there for me.”

https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/1...rd-tv-channel/

[palmerq]

Interesting matchup with Cesena v mattice, at one point matrices mouth guard falls out , Cesena looks at it and of course mattice whacks him in the face, quite amusing, the ref takes a point off mattice for this, seemed harsh, unless mattice played this trick on purpose but even then you've got to fight till the ref says not to.

Commentators are complaining about the stoppage but Cesena was looking pretty bad at the end there, looked unsteady and was getting hit, hands were all over the place, it was the last round but he looked bad.

[Spicoli]

Bam time yet? 3 screens in the den and living room not enough tonight .

[palmerq]

Negative Uzbek v tapales right now, Uzbek isn't doing too well ..rodriyafter these guys and it's round 9

[TIC]

i've got marlon up by four points after eight rounds

[TIC]

i've got marlon ahead by two points after ten rounds

[palmerq]

Uzbek is lazy, he should have won that easy but it wasn't easy, lazy git..

Rodriguez on next.

[TIC]

i've got marlon winning the fight by two points

[TIC]

marlon wins a split decision

[TIC]

two judges had it the same as me & the third had it for mj by eight points

[Big J]

Raymond Ford is growing on me
Big upset for Tapales
Puts himself right in line for the Fulton/Inoue winner
Akhmadaliev might want to think about 126
Rodriguez busted his jaw in winning his new belt

[Master]

Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez said Britain's Sunny Edwards was "the only option" for his next fight after claiming the vacant WBO world flyweight title.

Rodriguez overcame a broken jaw to win a unanimous decision over Mexico's Cristian Gonzalez in San Antonio, Texas, to become a two-weight world champion at the age of 23.

After a dominant performance, judges scored the fight 118-110, 117-111, 116-112 for the American, who later revealed his jaw was broken in the sixth round.

Rodriguez had vacated his WBC super-flyweight title to move down a division.

And when asked what came next, he called out fellow Matchroom fighter and IBF flyweight champion Edwards.

"Sunny Edwards, that's the only option. I think he's been talking so let's make it happen," he said.

Undefeated Edwards, 27, had himself called out Rodriguez after retaining his title with a unanimous points win over Felix Alvarado in November.

Rodriguez is also unbeaten after 18 fights, winning 11 by knockout.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/65224577