Bam knocks out Antonio Vargas, wins title in third weight class
GLENDALE – Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez was curious to know how he would perform in the bantamweight division for the first time in his career, and after a couple of rounds it seems that he is as good as ever.
It took Rodriguez (24-0, 17 KOs) six rounds to dispatch Antonio Vargas (19-2-1, 11 KOs) at the Desert Diamond Arena to win the WBA bantamweight championship. That makes Rodriguez a three division champion as he unified in the flyweight and super flyweight divisions.
At the start of the bout Rodriguez used his southpaw jab early but Vargas threw with him and was successful in a number of exchanges in the first round. Vargas threw combinations to make Rodriguez be defensive at spots in the round, plus landed lead right hands. The following round was when Rodriguez used a lot of foot movement and turning to his right to create openings for his left hand to land on Vargas. Despite the movement, Vargas was able to keep up with the activity of Rodriguez as the second round concluded, scoring on a combination while Rodriguez was on the ropes.
Vargas threw a number of combinations in the third round to counter the constant movement of Rodriguez, but the power shots landed by the southpaw were more emphatic. In the first minute of the fifth round “Bam” landed a left hand that dropped Vargas for the first time in the bout, and Vargas spent the next minute avoiding big shots from Rodriguez until he could get his legs back. He made it to the end of the fifth, but Vargas got hit with a three punch combination with under two minutes left in the sixth round to put him down for good.
“I felt great, I felt that I did everything right,” Rodriguez said after the win. “Vargas was a lot tougher than I expected. He had a lot of pop in his punch, so I had to stay careful. Thankfully I was able to finish him in the sixth round.”
Both fighters landed the same amount of power punches (81) and Vargas was more active with his punch output, but Rodriguez landed more total punches – 105 to 98 – and the left hands from Rodriguez were too much for Vargas at the end.
Rodriguez gave credit to Vargas’ toughness through the bout, pointing out his effort after the first knockdown.
“After that first knockdown, Vargas got up and he kept fighting like it never happened. I respect that.”
While Rodriguez did get a win and secure a title in another weight class, the buzz around fight week was the possibility of Rodriguez seeking a bout with pound for pound king Naoya Inoue by the end of the year. While he didn’t mention Inoue’s name, Rodriguez feels that he is open to facing anyone.
“Whoever they say is my opponent, I’m going to say yes,” Rodriguez answered. “I’m ready for whoever whenever. My team knows that. It doesn’t matter who it is or where it is, I’m ready.”
Photos by Cris Esqueda of Matchroom Boxing
