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Many a tribute (pardon if… thou will, the poetic “preamble”) have already been thrown in the direction of the precocious 22 year old from San Antonio, Texas. Chief amongst them, the “sobriquet” of “The Mexican Mark Johnson”, but in actuality, young Jesse is a born and bred American, so at the most, he’d be a… “Chicano Mark Johnson”… regardless of whose progeny(in the boxing genealogical sense of it all, of course) he is, he very much so, deserves our undivided attention, NOW!
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Regardless of his proper ethnicity (or moniker), as a fighter, he is unquestionably one bad mamma jammin’ whippersnapper. Nobody, absolutely nobody at 115 or 112 is going to be in a rush to get in there with this kid, and with good reason! I wouldn’t dream of deluding you, my dear readers, by pretending that I regularly peruse into what lurks beneath(sounds ominous, does it not?) 126 pounds.
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Yet, I’m fully aware of the existence of men such as Naoya Inoue, Stephen Fulton(barely…), John Riel Casimero, Nonito Donaire, Román “Chocolatito” González or Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. Everything else is just a blur of “Southmen”, a beclouded vision of tiny men from South of the border and Southeast Asia. The American market drives the rest of the world in tow, so naturally, he who breaks through in America, grabs a hold of the world’s spotlight.
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At 115 pounds, most of us are well acquainted with the significant pugilistic savvy of Juan Francisco Estrada, Sor Rungvisai, Román González, and to a lesser degree, of Kazuto Ioka, Fernando Martinez(scarcely…) and maybe even Joshua Franco.
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But by now, on the come up, we have an ascending young phenom who answers by the name of Jesse Rodriguez, a 22 year old American with latino ancestry and silky smooth skills reminiscent of former “pound for pounder”, 2 weight division, 3 time world champion and hall of famer, Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson, or of the more recent past and variety, “Bam” is evocative of one… Vasyl Anatoliyovych Lomachenko, who for my money, is still unquestionably, the most skilled fighter on the 3rd planet orbiting our beloved summering Sun.
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In the not so distant past, we have seen the simmering mediatic rise of young “gents” such as Erickson Lubin, Teófimo López, Ryan Garcia, Victor Ortiz, Francisco Bojado and Félix Verdejo, but all of them, no matter how gifted, they all seemed to have been shortchanged in the “brains department”. There was always an air of… stupidity and immaturity that would prove to be their undoing as their rampaging smugness spiralled them out of control.
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But “Bam”, he probably had better parenting, for he seems considerably more grounded and mature. Yes, decidedly, he has the appearance of being made of sterner stuff “upstairs”. As far as his similitudes with Lomachenko, I feel those are mostly “remanded” to an element of footwork. Indeed, the way that “Bam” rattles off combinations with blistering pace and then immediately repositions himself onto another angle is quite impressive, especially when taking into consideration that “Bam” did not enjoy an extensive amateur career.
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As best as I can figure it, he only had 20 odd “scuffles” in the unpaid ranks, which is nothing when compared to Loma’s 397 bouts during his… “apprenticeship”. Do you know what that spells? In my discernment it all adds up to a considerable innate and well ingrained aptitude of the fistic sort. And good on him, and good for us.
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After all, not all of us “prizefighting congregators” can be a bloodthirsty bunch, eager of flat noses that drip plasma like malfunctioning faucets, we leave that sort of gore for the imbeciles that “thrive” on UFC and other bullshit carny crap.
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Nope, while violence is unavoidable between the rubbery ropes, there must still be a pretense of skills about it all, and make no mistake, this kid “Bam” has some major league talent. I don’t see him as a (top 10)”pound for pound” pugilist just yet, but in a couple more fights, especially if against a Chocolatito and an Estrada, and I may very well (and happily) whistle a different tune.
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Regardless of achievements, one either has talent or one does not, and these eyes of mine do not bring falsehood to bear on my brain. Yes, the technical ability and athleticism is all there, now all he needs is to perform under pressure and often, and this past February vs Carlos Quadras, and last Saturday vs Rungvisai, he left little room for doubt. Yep, he’s a real comer(be ever so kind as to spare me the “latrine humor”…), and potentially a top 10 “P4P” fighter in the coming 12-18 months.
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There are however caveats, after all, Quadras was(and is) 33, and Rungvisai is now 35 years old. In my judgement, beating Rungvisai in June 2022, is not quite the same as doing so(and nobody did) in mid-2017. While there may be(and there is) a desire to see “Bam” unify vs Estrada, Kazuto Ioka and Fernando Martinez, the prognostication from this “corner”, is that Bam will drop down to 112 pounds and pick up a title strap there and become 2 division champion, presumably(my guesstimation) against Julio Cesar Martinez.
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Personally, I do think he should indeed “downsize”, for in my notion, he’s carrying some “baby fat” at 115, so I think at this stage he should be fighting men his own (natural)weight and size. Plenty of time later to take on the “big boys” at 115 and eventually 118 or even 122.
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Him vs Inoue would presumably be box-office(in every sense), while Fulton at 122 might be a bridge too far, at least, in the physical sense of it all, but “Cool Boy Steph” is still only 27, so that potential match-up can afford to “marinate” for a good 5 years more. Meanwhile, I’d love to see Inoue vs Fulton, or Fulton vs Gary Russell Jr .at 126. Will the promoters be ever so kind as to make way for it? If it does come about, just say the word, and I’ll gladly hop, skip and jump in that direction.
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Once in a long while, a special fighter or athlete comes along to shed light on the lower weights, men like Naseem Hamed, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Salvador Sanchez, Michael Carbajal, Danny Romero, Johnny Tapia, Naoya Inoue, Nonito Donaire, Guillermo Rigondeaux, etc. Is “Bam” Rodriguez the next… “big thing” below Featherweight?
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He certainly looks (and delivers)the goods, and it’s not just a rare but joyous “marriage” of technical skill with fast-twitch muscle fibers, there also seems to be a lot of ambition and temperament about him, a whole lot of yearning for greatness, and that is something we should all applaud. I most certainly do, and I’ll be watching, closely and in a lively manner.
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Wednesday, June 29th, 2022,
Parque das Nações,
Text: Ronald William Miller.
Image: All rights reserved, Melina Pizano
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