Jesse Rodriguez remains undefeated and a work in progress, writes Elliot Worsell from Las Vegas
It will take much more than a super flyweight champion defending a WBC belt to make me believe in reincarnation, however, the sight of Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez going through his vast arsenal of punches against Israel Gonzalez is certainly evidence of a 22 years- old who has been here before.
With a maturity, composure and striking repertoire that belies his age, Rodriguez already moves and throws like a seasoned pro and seems completely unflappable, his confidence that of a fighter who knows exactly what’s coming: both in terms of the your opponent’s next action as the result of the fight.
Tonight (September 17) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Rodriguez once again demonstrated this eerie calm and ruthlessness to the tune of a 12-round unanimous decision win, one that likely disappointed some but had others, like me, no less excited about his future.
He will have, it is true, more flashy wins, and in fact he has had more flashy wins this year, but nonetheless, this was an important lesson for Rodriguez; a chance for him to once again show the world what he’s capable of, while also getting something out of the experience.
Eager to thrill rather than learn, round after round he revealed more and more of himself as the fight progressed and chose to take risks when he believed they were necessary. This meant that he was tight and compact early on, sizing up Gonzalez and setting traps on the front foot, before exploring all the paths he had cleared for himself as the middle rounds opened.
On the front foot, always, he had Gonzalez in survival mode from the start and systematically disarmed him, starting first with jabs, then left crosses from southpaw, and finally body shots (some of which, admittedly, were borderline). ). It was, for the most part, one-way traffic, and Gonzalez, the taller man, had no way of keeping Rodriguez away, or preventing him from doing what he wanted. His right hand, thrown straight into the retreat, was the best Gonzalez had to offer, but Rodriguez, cool under fire, didn’t mind taking a stranger or two to plot his next move.
In fact, like the best of boxing’s little men — think of someone like Ricardo “El Finito” Lopez — Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez has a feeling he knows how a fight will end long before it’s actually over. Everything he does, be it hitting or just moving, is designed to make his opponent react and eventually slip. It’s an overused adage, sure, but with Jesse Rodriguez it’s also true: everything is for a reason.
At this point, while still in the formative period of his professional career, he is a fighter whose style seems oddly refined. He is one that should not only be admired, but should probably be taught in boxing gyms.
Or maybe that’s premature, so it’s not doing you a favor. Regardless, his style was too much tonight for Gonzalez, someone who previously went 12 rounds with Roman Gonzalez and Khalid Yafai, and it will probably be too much for most everyone else at his weight as well.
If you were looking for signs, meaning signs of distress, they were evident against Gonzalez in the eighth round, when Rodriguez landed low with a right uppercut and the Mexican, who had already complained about low blows, fell to the canvas with the impact. . The transgression would cost Rodriguez a point, though the suspicion once he landed was that Gonzalez was running out of ideas and perhaps growing increasingly frustrated.
That’s not to say it wasn’t successful, mind. In fact, Gonzalez often went back and forth with Rodriguez, giving the best he had, and staying active even when he hit him cleanly with his left hand, as was the case in the ninth.
All in all, the man from Cabo San Lucas gave a good account of himself, just as he did before against González and Yafai. Rodriguez was gradually softening him up, to be sure, but he seemed close to weakening only in the 10th, a round in which Rodriguez reeled him with a hook and numbed him over and over with right jabs.
It was in that round that referee Kenny Bayless took a closer look at Gonzalez, perhaps seeing what everyone at ringside could see. However, the brave Mexican, despite this concern, boldly ventured into the 11th, showing ambition in the face of the inevitability of defeat.
By then, Rodriguez’s desire to finish the fight and make the statement that others had promised on his behalf was so great that some of his punches began to go off course, one in particular causing Gonzalez, 28-5-1 (11). , to fall to the canvas a second time (again, without a takedown). There was no point deduction this time, even if Gonzalez, competitive but far below the scorecards, presumably expected and could have done with one.
In the end, the scores of 118-109, 117-110 and a too close 114-113 assured Rodríguez’s victory, his 17th as a professional. “He was very clumsy and very hard and he hit me with body shots that I felt,” Jesse, 17-0 (11), admitted afterwards. “I didn’t get the performance I wanted, but it’s just part of the sport.”
While, by his own admission, it’s not the performance he wanted, and perhaps not a performance he’ll eagerly add to his Fighter of the Year showreel (which includes a decision over Carlos Cuadras and an eighth-round knockout of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai ), tonight’s victory against Israel González will be seen as a learning experience, and a vital one, for Jesse Rodríguez for years to come. It will be remembered as the night the hype died down a bit but the education, for a 22-year-old who apparently already knows a lot, continued unabated.
