Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez knocks out Juan Francisco Estrada in the seventh round

JESSE 'Bam' Rodriguez finished by KO in the seventh round Juan Francisco Estrada in an all-out fight at the Footprint Center, Phoenix, last night. Rodriguez, 24, is still the WBC super-flyweight champion. More importantly, he has upstaged his then rivals in the race for victory.

After an intense start to the contest, fought at high speed, Estrada was rocked in the third round. 'Bam' took advantage of that opportunity again, dropping the champion in the fourth round. Rodriguez's left hand was dynamite.

The right hand lead wasn't too bad. Battling Estrada, 34, with his southpaw, the man known as 'El Gallo' struggled with hand speed and accuracy.

Estrada needed something big to turn the situation around and into the sixth round, as a right hand behind his own caught Rodriguez asleep and sent him to the canvas for a single knockdown. It was the kind of turnaround needed to land a fight in the Fight of the Year arena.

Quick to regain momentum, Rodriguez relaunched his uppercut to get Estrada back under control and wary of bombs again. As a straight uppercut left and right followed, Jesse called for another move to end Estrada's evening.

A body shot late in the seventh round took the breath away from the crowd, the commentators and Estrada all with one wrist flick.

Estrada has not tasted defeat since Srisaket Sor Rungvisai defeated him in 2018. Rodriguez served him a rib-eye meal as the Sonora native, who held two wins over Rome's 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez, wrapped up in pain.

Rodriguez takes the final shot. June 29, 2024; Phoenix, AZ; Juan Francisco Estrada and Jesse Rodriguez in a WBC World and Ring Magazine Super Flyweight title fight at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel/Boxing News.

Juan Francisco Estrada suffered his fourth career loss of 44 wins (28 KOs). As mentioned above, he has lost before, but this was the surest defeat of all. New champ Rodriguez improves to 20-0 with 13 major knockout wins. That 65 percent KO rate stands out since lighter weight bangers are often harder to come by.

Estrada said there is a rematch option he will pursue. There is no doubt that Rodriguez would welcome the opportunity to score a second win for the Mexicans. “I thought he would rise again,” said the new king, who was mentally preparing for more battle. Estrada was unable to force and was counted out by referee Chris Flores.

As for Bam's future, his name is increasingly being linked to Naoya Inoue. Right now it's very different in weight, given Rodriguez's tendency to move around in the divisions, the more he keeps winning and looks impressive doing it, the closer the fight will be to reality.

Sunny Edwards returned to winning ways on the undercard, earning a ninth-round technical decision victory over Adrian Curiel. Yamileth Mercado beat Ramla Ali over 10 rounds for the WBC super-bantamweight title and Arturo Popoca Cárdenas he had the most of Danny Barrios, winning 10 rounds of the tournament.