The options for Jesse Rodriguez, after unseating Sunny Edwards on Saturday night in Arizona and unifying the WBO and IBF crowns, are plenty.
The 23-year-old not only ended the two-year reign of an undefeated champion, he also showed his skills against a gritty, top-flight opponent and turned the page after suffering a broken jaw in April.
"I'm happy AF. I knew it was just a matter of time. He was a lot quicker than I thought, he moved around a lot, but I got him to fight. They said my last few fights were all hype, but today I proved it," he declared, still very excited in the ring.
However, instead of calling out the other two champions (Artem Dalakian or Julio Cesar Rey Martinez), for the undisputed flyweight championship, he decided to call the veteran Juan Francisco Estrada, in the super flyweight division.
This division is not new to Rodriguez, as he made his name in this category with convincing victories over fighters like Srinsaket Sor Rungvisai and Carlos Cuadras.
"I've been calling Gallo for a while now, he's here and he knows I want to fight him," said the fighter who trains under Robert Garcia.
Edwards acknowledged Bam's work.
After losing his undefeated record after 20 fights, Sunny Edwards assured that there are no excuses or pretexts and that Bam showed his superiority with clarity.
"It was a very good fight, he is a great fighter. I lost today but I'm going to recover, I'm going to come back," said the fighter who was knocked down for the first time while fighting in the ninth round.