From overlooked prospect to P4P star: The rise of ...

In early 2012, Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez attended a media workout session in San Antonio for his favorite boxer, Nonito Donaire, then a junior featherweight world champion. Rodriguez, who was 12 years old at the time and following in the footsteps of his older brother and future world champion Joshua Franco, was preparing to head to a boxing tournament but wanted to catch a glimpse of one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world before leaving. Instead of simply seeing Donaire ply his craft, he was invited into the ring to show his skills. "He's going to be good, man," Donaire said after seeing the young southpaw flash his jab and pop off a few combinations. But even then, Donaire couldn't have imagined that the teen nicknamed "Bambino" would become who he is now. In 2026, Rodriguez not only fulfilled Donaire's prophecy but exceeded it as a two-division world champion and ESPN's No. 3 pound-for-pound boxer in the world. On Saturday, Rodriguez, 26, will be back in action as he pursues a world title in a third weight class when he faces WBA bantamweight champion Antonio Vargas (DAZN, 7 p.m. ET) in Glendale, Arizona. "I feel like there's still a lot of Bam Rodriguez for people to see," Rodriguez told ESPN on Wednesday. "The better the opponent, the better my performance. He may not be a household name, but [Vargas] is a tough opponent in a higher weight class and a world champion. This fight will bring out another side of me that people haven't seen and I'm ready to show the world what Bam has to offer." While the lower divisions were dominated by stars such as Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez, Juan Francisco Estrada and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in the late 2010s -- top fighters who helped bring the smaller weight classes into the mainstream and earn pound-for-pound recognition -- Rodriguez was quietly building his reputation. All he needed was an opportunity. He got one -- and took advantage of it -- in 2022, moving up to junior bantamweight on seven days' notice to face WBC champion Carlos Cuadras, and he hasn't looked back since. A few years ago, the smaller weight classes were overlooked in America. But thanks to the groundwork laid by fighters such as Gonzalez and a cable network's interest in showcasing the 115-pound division, Rodriguez, Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani got an opportunity to fight in big events. All three fighters are on ESPN's pound-for-pound men's boxing list and are getting the recognition they deserve with extraordinary skills, crowd-pleasing fights and global recognition. "We're proud of [Rodriguez] because he's been rising up just like I did from the bottom," said Gonzalez, a KO machine with 43 stoppages in 49 victories, this week. "He has proven that, to me, he's one of the greatest fighters in the lower divisions out there right now." Four years since winning his first world crown, Rodriguez has evolved into one of boxing's most exciting fighters and a legitimate contender for the title of best boxer in the world. But it was a long road full of uncertainty that Rodriguez had to traverse to get to this point. GROWING UP IN San Antonio, Rodriguez had big dreams in a small body. But those dreams were about skateboarding and playing football. They didn't begin to manifest as a fighter until he followed Franco into the San Fernando Boxing Club in downtown San Antonio at age 9. He lost his first three amateur bouts before collecting his first victory. He captured his first tournament at the age of 10. Rodriguez obsessed over the sport, dropping out of school in the seventh grade. Around that time is when he ended up at Donaire's workout with trainer Robert Garcia, who was working with "The Filipino Flash." Four years later, Rodriguez was reintroduced to Garcia through Franco -- who Garcia was training -- and the lauded trainer quickly realized that he had something special with the diminutive teenager. "The main thing is his discipline," Garcia said. "He's one of the most disciplined kids that I have ever had. But then there are the skills and he has great f‐‐‐ing skills with both his reflexes and accuracy. But none of it matters without his discipline." When Garcia started training Rodriguez, he introduced him to Akihiko Honda, president of Teiken Promotions. "Mr. Honda," as he has been called, has been instrumental in elevating Japan's boxing scene, building international stars from smaller weight classes (Inoue, Gonzalez, Jorge Linares) and promoting global megafights, including James "Buster" Douglas' upset of Mike Tyson at Tokyo Dome in 1990. Honda's keen eye for talent took a liking to Rodriguez, and a relationship was formed between the fighter, trainer and one of the most powerful figures in global boxing. "Before Bam, I had never brought Mr. Honda any fighters but this one was different," Garcia said. "I had the perfect fighter and Mr. Honda started sending money every month to cover training camps and secure a few fights in Mexico early in his career." As Rodriguez racked up wins early in his pro career, Garcia needed to find him a promoter who could secure fights in the United States. Unfortunately, the lighter weight classes weren't getting much recognition, and Garcia struggled to get anyone to consider his young fighter. "I talked to everybody -- and I mean everybody -- about signing Bam," Garcia said, noting that Golden Boy Promotions, Premier Boxing Champions and Top Rank all passed on the fighter, according to the trainer. "I begged for opportunities and nobody cared to call me back." Garcia's younger brother, Mikey Garcia, was still actively fighting for PBC and managed to get Rodriguez placement on a few of his undercards as a favor to his brother, including the undercard of his 2019 loss to Errol Spence Jr. at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where Bam stopped Rauf Aghayev in the third round. Still, there was little interest in Rodriguez from promoters. Meanwhile, there was a movement brewing that would eventually shine a spotlight on the lighter weight divisions. FOLLOWING FLOYD MAYWEATHER'S retirement after beating Andre Berto in 2015, Chocolatito Gonzalez was widely recognized as boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter. He was unlike other fighters in smaller weight classes because he brought excitement to his fights with his aggressive pressure fighting, KO power and relentless combination punching. This eventually led to HBO launching a series dedicated to the lighter weight classes in 2017, billed as "Superfly" that featured Gonzalez, Estrada, Sor Rungvisai, Cuadras and Inoue, among others. "I knew having a career as a smaller weight class fighter in America was going to be difficult, but I had to wait for my opportunity and never gave up on my dream," Rodriguez said. "Seeing the smaller weight class get that recognition in America with Superfly kept me motivated to keep going. I had to just wait for my opportunity." The emphasis on the smaller weight classes gave Rodriguez a glimmer of hope, and once the door of opportunity cracked, he knocked it off the hinges. When the chance to face Cuadras for the vacant WBC junior bantamweight title was presented in 2022, Garcia never hesitated to put his fighter in the ring, and the result was Rodriguez dominating Cuadras, winning his first world title at age 22 and formally announcing himself to the boxing world as a threat. "I knew what was going to happen," Garcia said. "I knew what Bam had. The weight didn't matter. I had no doubt he was going to become a world champion." Rodriguez -- who signed a multiyear deal with Matchroom Boxing ahead of the Cuadras fight -- spent the next four years climbing the pound-for-pound ladder with one dynamic performance after another. He throttled Rungvisai in 2022, dominated previously unbeaten Sunny Edwards in 2023, blasted Estrada in 2024 and blew past undefeated world champions Fernando Martinez and Phumelele Cafu in 2025. "After his last fight, when Bam finished his contract with Matchroom, I started getting calls from everybody," Garcia said. "Everybody was calling me with offers. Promoters new and old offered very good deals to sign Bam, but he is a loyal kid." Rodriguez signed a long-term promotional extension with Matchroom Boxing in April, and he's closing in on topping the pound-for-pound rankings and potentially could be part of one of the biggest fights that can be made in boxing today against Inoue, the pound-for-pound king and undisputed 122-pound champion. FINISHING 70% OF his opponents, including 12 of his past 15, is part of what makes Rodriguez special at such a young age. And perhaps more intriguing is that he has elevated his performances against quality opponents, with stoppages against five of the past six world champions he's faced. Of the seven times he's gone the distance, no judge has ever scored the fight in favor of his opponent. "I don't ever come into a fight with a game plan; it's all instinctual," Rodriguez said. "I'm the kind of fighter who likes to take a few rounds to see what my opponent brings to the table and go from there. And with Robert Garcia giving me advice between rounds, there's no stopping me." Rodriguez's career total connect percentage of 38.9% ranks second behind only Shakur Stevenson among current champions and title contenders, while his 48.6% of power punches landed tops all fighters, according to CompuBox. "What really sets Bam apart, I think, is his footwork and the fact that he's left-handed," Juan Francisco Estrada told ESPN. Estrada was stopped for the first time in his career by Rodriguez in 2024. "He has good power, but he knows the right spots, the angles and the timing. But being a southpaw is the hardest thing about facing Bam Rodriguez." Should Rodriguez get past Vargas and become a world champion in a third weight class, Matchroom Boxing's Eddie Hearn has said that he would like to see Rodriguez move up another weight division to face Inoue in a fight that would pit two of the top three pound-for-pound boxers in the world against each other. Garcia told ESPN that he likes the fight but plans to have Rodriguez compete one more time at 118 pounds before making the move to 122 pounds to face Inoue. "In the smaller weight classes, Bam vs. Inoue will be the biggest fight ever," Garcia said. "I'm not rushing it. But if it does happen next year, I think it'll be the biggest fight of the past decade." Estrada and Gonzalez believe the idea of Rodriguez moving up another weight class against one of the most devastating punchers in all of boxing is a bridge too far for the ambitious boxer. At least for now. "He's proven that there's no one who can match him at 115 or 118 pounds," Gonzalez said. "Now they want to set up that fight for him at 122 pounds against the best fighter in the world in Inoue? To me, I see that as something that's not within reach right now because of the power. I don't know if he's ready." Gonzalez knows firsthand the challenges of carrying power when moving up in weight. After starting his career 45-0 with an 84% knockout rate when competing between 105 and 112 pounds, Gonzalez didn't fare nearly as well in his move to 115 pounds. He went 8-4 and saw his KO ratio dip to 25%. Gonzalez said he has had trouble adjusting to the weight class because his opponents were naturally bigger and cutting down while he was trying to gain weight. "It's really tough," Marcos Caballero, Gonzalez's trainer, told ESPN. "They say that when you gain a lot of weight, you feel slower, your punching power drops, and you're going to be fighting elite boxers whose bodies are already used to taking punches from top-level boxers. It can really affect your punching power a lot." Doubters? Rodriguez has heard it all before, and when called to action, he proves every single one of them wrong. Still, there are more mountains to climb, and Bam hopes to continue showing the world why he should never be underestimated ever again. "I'm on my own path and know exactly what I have to do," Rodriguez said. "The fight with Inoue, with two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world facing each other, is inevitable and maybe the biggest fight in the history of the smaller weight classes. "It's just a matter of time before I show the world exactly what I'm capable of."