Good, bad, worse: The remarkable emergence of Jesse Rodriguez, Canelo’s ire
Jesse Rodriquez has said repeatedly that his goal is to be a special fighter, not an average one. Well, there’s nothing average about this boxing savant.
The Texan has made the quantum leap from prospect to star as a result of two remarkable performances this year, a decision over Carlos Cuadras in February and a stunning knockout of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai on Saturday in San Antonio, Rodriguez’s hometown.
Cuadras and Sor Rungvisai have been 115-pound stalwarts for a decade. The naturally smaller Rodriguez not only beat them, he dominated them.
How did this unfold?
Luck played a key role. Rodriguez was scheduled to take part in a 108-pound fight on the Cuadras-Sor Rungvisai card on Feb. 5. When Sor Rungvisai pulled out because of illness, Rodriguez agreed to move up two divisions to 115 on five days’ notice and stunned everyone outside his own circle by winning a wide decision and the WBC’s secondary title.
Rodriguez would’ve have been justified had he moved back down weight. Instead, he made the decision to defend his belt against a powerful puncher who has victories over Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman Gonzalez (twice). The result? Rodriguez outclassed him, baffling the Thai star with his elite technical ability and then taking him out in the eighth round.
Sor Rungvisai hadn’t been stopped since his second pro fight, in 2009. Future Hall of Famers Estrada and Gonzalez couldn’t do that.
I hesitate to anoint Rodriguez (16-0, 11 KOs) the next great thing because he’s had only 16 pro fights and both Cuadras (33) and Sor Rungvisai (35) are beyond their primes. At the same time, he has aced the eye test and won two important fights back to back.
One person who hasn’t been surprised by the events of the past four-plus months is Robert Garcia, Rodriguez’s veteran trainer.
“Look man, we know what Bam is all about, we know his talent,” Garcia said on a Little Giant Boxing video. “… So when they offered us a fight, I never even doubted that we’d be …