Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez became the first man to knock out Juan Francisco Estrada, finishing off Estrada in the 7th round to reclaim the WBC super flyweight title. Rodriguez reclaimed the belt, which he held before surrendering it to drop down to 112 pounds, by knocking out Estrada, a future hall-of-famer that Bam says he grew up watching.
This one was a phenomenal action fight from the very start, with hotly contested rounds that Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KO) arguably edged out through a tight guard and sharp counters. Estrada (44-3, 28 KO) looked sharp early, too, winning his share of the exchanges and looking as good as he has at any point in the later stage of his career.
Things started swinging towards Bam midway through the 3rd round when he hurt Estrada on a shot to the temple. He followed that up by knocking Estrada down in the 4th, and had him staggered repeatedly in the 5th.
Estrada looked ready to go, and perhaps Bam got a little too eager, or else Estrada wasn’t as thoroughly cooked as he appeared. Either way, Estrada dug deep and scored a knockdown of his own early in the 6th, putting Bam on the canvas with a flash shot.
Rodriguez rose quickly and looked undamaged, though he fought a little more cautiously for the remainder of the round. But, before Estrada could build on it, Bam turned up the pressure again, ultimately finishing Estrada off with a crushing body shot at the end of the 7th round that folded Estrada in half and left him rolling around in agony.
In his post-fight interview, Rodriguez said: “I got dropped for the first time – That was crazy!” He went on to call a potential 122 pound matchup against Naoya Inoue a “fantasy fight,” since he’s barely been back at 115 pounds and has a lot of work to do before considering a jump up to that weight.
When Estrada had his turn to make comments in the ring afterwards, he called for a rematch, saying he needs to box Bam better, and wants another chance to do it right away. I don’t know what Estrada, or anyone else at or near 115 pounds, can do against a fighter on the level Bam showed tonight, though.
It was a fantastic performance from Bam, one of the great young stars of the sport, a worthy and well-established pound-for-pound presence, and a reliable source of thrilling entertainment. This fight gave us a bounty of highlights, so enjoy them all:
Sunny Edwards TD-9 Adrian Curiel
Sunny Edwards looked sharp as ever, slipping, dodging, and countering a frustrated Adrian Curiel from start to early finish in the chief support. Edwards (21-1, 4 KO) didn’t show any lingering issues from his first career loss last time out against Bam Rodriguez, dancing and clowning Curiel before even the 2nd round could end.
Curiel (24-6-1, 5 KO) was just too basic to catch Sunny, and Sunny spent the whole night popping him with counter jabs or showboating in seeming disrespect for Curiel’s ability. The biggest shot Curiel landed was with his skull, opening a wicked cut on Sunny’s forehead on what was ruled an accidental clash of heads late in the 6th.
It was a gruesome cut on the forehead that drew comparisons to Tim Tszyu’s cut against Sebastian Fundora, and it started opening up through the eyebrow and down into the hollow of Sunny’s right eye. Two rounds after it opened, referee Mark Nelson had the cut evaluated by the doctor, who called things to a halt just after the 9th round officially began.
Edwards took the decision on unanimous cards, but the official scores of 90-82, 88-84, 87-85 were very questionable. It’s tough to see where Curiel made an argument for a single round, much less the three he got on the tightest official scorecard.
Yamileth Mercado UD-10 Ramla Ali
Yamileth Mercado keeps the WBC title she’s held for over four and a half years with a wide decision victory over Ramla Ali. Mercado (24-3, 5 KO) didn’t exactly dominate, but she did enough to pile up rounds without letting Ali get comfortable.
Ali (9-2, 2 KO) never looked particularly good tonight, and her body language during the wait for an official announcement made it obvious she didn’t believe she’d done enough to win the fight. The judges agreed, giving Mercado the victory on official scores of 98-92, 98-93, and 97-93.
Arturo Cardenas MD-10 Danny Barrios
Excellent action in the opener, where Danny Barrios got off to a strong start. Arturo Cardenas seemed to figure something out halfway through, though, and started punishing him with superior power. Cardenas (14-0-1, 8 KO) did damage to the body throughout, and the accumulation had Barrios in retreat for much of the latter half.
The damage was serious enough that Barrios (15-1, 5 KO) spent a good part of the 9th round working from distance and evading, prompting some booing and taunting by Cardenas. It took some of the excitement off the end of the fight, but it was enough to earn Barrios the final two rounds on Wil Esco’s unofficial scorecard.
Unfortunately, BLH unofficial cards don’t matter, and the judges had it for Cardenas on official scores of 95-95, 97-93, and 96-94. Commentary didn’t think very much of the 7-3 Cardenas card, but the majority decision still goes down as the first professional loss for Barrios.