Bam Rodriguez chases high stakes: ‘a lot to lose – a lot to gain as well’

Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, already considered one of the best of his era at age 26, will put his undisputed plans on hold – but not at the expense of furthering his legacy.

Rodriguez will make his bantamweight debut against WBA titleholder Antonio Vargas on June 13 at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, aiming to become a three-division titleholder.

Rodriguez, 23-0 (16 KOs), currently holds three of the four junior bantamweight titles. During his rise to prominence, he beat a series of legends who came before him. He holds wins over Carlos Cuadras, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Sunny Edwards, Juan Francisco Estrada and, most recently, knocked out WBA junior bantamweight titleholder Fernando Martinez in November.

His next bout was expected to be for the undisputed crown at 115lbs. Yet the only remaining junior bantamweight titleholder, Willibaldo Garcia – who holds the IBF belt – is scheduled to fight former titlist Andrew Moloney, one week prior. Rather than waiting and fighting the winner, he is moving up to fight a belt holder.

“I think a title defense wouldn’t have excited me as much as this fight does,” Rodriguez said. “I am moving up to another division, trying to conquer another world title, against a fighter like Antonio Vargas, who will push me that much more inside the gym.”

Vargas, a 2016 US Olympian, won the WBA interim bantamweight title over Winston Guerrero in December 2024. The 29-year-old Vargas then made an inauspicious first title defense, a draw to Daigo Higa. The bout was the only fight Vargas, from Kissimmee, Florida, had last year.

“These are the kind of fights that bring out the best in any boxer,” Rodriguez said. “High stakes, a lot to lose – a lot to gain as well.”

The bantamweight division has lost some steam with the consensus best fighter in the division, Junto Nakatani, moving up to junior featherweight and set to face Naoya Inoue in a megafight in Japan on May 2. Rodriguez will try to follow the lead of Inoue and Nakatani, who both recently won belts in lower weight classes and enjoyed success at bantamweight.

Only the future will tell if Rodriguez, from San Antonio, Texas, will try his hand at becoming an undisputed champion. In the meantime, he’ll continue chasing whatever accomplishments he can find to build up his own growing legend.

“Another great night, another great performance,” Rodriguez said. “I am ready to collect another belt.”

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.