Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez’s failure to stop Israel Gonzalez should persuade him to take a break from boxing before the end of the year, believes Sergio Mora.
The 22-year-old unbeaten American fought for the third time this year on Saturday night when he edged out Israel Gonzalez on the Canelo-Golovkin 3 undercard, and many believe he has hopes of taking on the winner of Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez.
Rodriguez might then fight for a fourth time in 2022 after dispatching Carlos Cuadras and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai earlier this year.
Speaking on JABS, Mora thinks there may have been a degree of complacency in the performance and cautioned the 22-year-old to take a break.
“He didn’t look vulnerable but he didn’t shine like he normally does,” he said.
“When you go from fighting Carlos Cuadras and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, to Israel Gonzalez, it just doesn’t sound right.
“He maybe was overconfident, he had aspirations of greatness, maybe facing the winner of Estrada vs. Chocolatito, he’s an ambitious fighter.
"I think he needs rest. Maybe not physical, because he’s 22 years old, he can keep going physically. Mentally, take a month off, get back in the gym, fight before the year’s over.
"Four fights for a 22-year-old? That’s perfect.
“He doesn’t have power at 115. Even though he knocked out Srisaket, he knocked out an older version of Srisaket. He knocked him out by angles, by surprise.
"He can’t go toe to toe and knock out guys like Cuadras and Srisaket. That’s the big difference in power. He’s never going to have 115 power, but he’s going to have 115 talent, where he can compete with and hurt these guys.”
Mora continued: “I think the smart thing for him to do is take time off. Take a month off. He shouldn’t fluctuate in weight. I saw him one month after a fight and he ballooned up pretty heavily. Watch his weight, a couple of weeks off, don’t even punch anything.
"Then finish up the year with four fights and hopefully Fighter of the Year honours. He shouldn’t be overly ambitious.”