At 24, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez is already a two-weight world champion and one of the most exciting young stars that boxing has to offer.
“Bam” will look to give his star power a boost Saturday night when he challenges Juan Francisco Estrada for the veteran’s WBC and Ring Magazine super flyweight titles from the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, and live on DAZN.
With the stakes ultra high, in what figures to be Rodriguez’s toughest test to date, DAZN lists the keys to victory for each fighter ahead of this highly-anticipated bout.
Juan Francisco Estrada’s keys to victory
Assert the jab from the outside to the body
Estrada did a wonderful job asserting his jab and boxing from the outside during the early rounds of his eventual majority decision victory over Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in their December 2022 trilogy.
Well, establishing that jab and keeping an aggressive Rodriguez at the end of that stick can go a long way towards Estrada maintaining his ring generalship and banking rounds. That’s especially if Estrada targets Rodriguez’s body with jab. Doing so could slow the younger boxer’s forward fighting enough for Estrada to keep control.
Look for counter potshots, especially on the back foot
Rodriguez should be aggressive in his pursuit of Estrada, walking the veteran down early and often. And why shouldn’t he? For starters, it’s part of what makes Rodriguez “Bam!” Also, “Chocolatito” found success forcing cramped quarters in his last fight with Estrada, so there’s a blueprint there.
That said, when Rodriguez swarms — especially if he does so with reckless abandon — Estrada has got to make him pay with well-timed counter potshots, especially on the back foot.
Revisit some of those earlier rounds of the Estrada-Gonzalez trilogy and you’ll see Estrada fighting backwards and peppering “Chocolatito” with precise counter shots. He must do the same against a bullish, but highly-skilled Rodriguez.
Unleash combinations ending in a chopping right hand
At 34 years old, Estrada’s combinations remain brisk, pointed output.
The WBC and Ring Magazine super flyweight world champion has a knack for generating clean flurries which he could end with that chopping, overhand right.
Though it’s a big punch from Estrada, launching a right overzealously could leave him prone to a pounding counter left from “Bam.” Still, Estrada has to calculate in real time and unload the punch when he sees an opening.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez’s keys to victory
Be the aggressor, swarm
Fighting forward and putting Estrada on the back foot will force the older champion to use his motor which could sap his energy as the fight goes on.
That could bode well for the younger Rodriguez, who has the fresher legs 10 years Estrada’s junior.
Walking Estrada down with crisp, clean and powerful punches — all part of Rodriguez’s skilled repertoire — could immediately put “Bam” in control of this big fight.
Unload the counter left
As aforementioned, when Estrada launches that chopping right hand, “Bam” must look to keep him honest with a counter left.
The southpaw can deliver that left as a sneaky, slick punch or thudding boom toward dynamite results.
Landing these counter lefts early should give Rodriguez a gauge on their effectiveness enough to know if he could end the veteran's night early and score the biggest win of his young career.
Punch in traffic
As rounds go on, Rodriguez tends to show an increasing willingness to exchange punches with his opponents.
Look back at his December 2023 ninth-round stoppage of Sunny Edwards and you’ll see Rodriguez launch an inside left as Edwards was attempting a left of his own.
That willingness to punch in traffic wrecked Edwards and can do the same against Estrada if that left is detonated in the phone booth, spelling the epitome of why Rodriguez goes by “Bam!”
Follow DAZN for all the live updates, results and highlights from Estrada vs. “Bam” Rodriguez on Saturday, beginning at 8 p.m. ET.