A stacked Matchroom card in San Antonio, Texas this Saturday night is topped by local hero Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez, whose headline is to defend the WBC WBC super flyweight championship against the belt holder twice Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. Luke G. Williams previews a classic clash of youth and experience.
On May 3, 2013, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, then an unknown Thai boxer, overpowered Japan’s Yota Sato in his home town of Sisaket to claim the super flyweight belt. WBC, to the delight of local fans.
Over a period of nearly nine years, this title will prove the exclusive preservation of a quartet of exclusive and exceptional boxers in Srisaket, Carlos Cuadras, Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada, surpassing They went through a series of titanic fights and head-to-head fights that helped turn the super fly class into arguably the strongest in boxing.
In honor of the legendary ‘Four Kings’ of the 1980s – Hagler, Hearns, Leonard and Duran – some have even labeled these particular superheroes the ‘Four Princes’, or ‘Four Kings’. new’.
However, all great dynasties come to an end, and that is in February of this year.
With Estrada elevated to WBC ‘franchise’ champions, Cuadras and Srisaket were set to fight for the sanctioning body’s vacated 115lbs title, however the Thais withdrew due to illness at the end. gave the young and undefeated San Antonio tyro Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez a chance.
Showing the confidence and form that has characterized his career thus far, ‘Bam’ did not blink. Unfazed by the prospect of putting on weight and playing against a proven world-class operator in Cuadras, he entered the fight and won by first-half 12-point decision.
The question now is whether the era of the ‘Four Princes’ is over, or whether ‘Bam’ is merely proving a fleeting space traveler.
This weekend we’ll find out, as Rodriguez continues his quest to wipe out the division’s established kings as he faces big punch Southpaw Srisaket at Tech Port Arena in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday night.
At 22 years old, Rodriguez is the world’s youngest current boxing title holder and the San Antonio-born player has big plans to establish his super fly dominance. “Now a lot of people have their eyes on me and they’re looking at me to take on this department,” he said this week in the build-up to Saturday.
“I have seen a lot [of people] on social media saying I’m the new ‘Choccy’ [a reference to ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez] And that’s a lot of motivation and I want to live up to the hype. Rungvisai has come in with his best and beating him will really boost my confidence and advance my career. ”
Srisaket has twice held the 115lbs WBC belt, and Rodriguez, while respecting the ability and achievement of the Thai, has also voiced a warning.
“I feel a lot stronger than when I faced Cuadras,” he said. “That [win] not a fluke, i want to show i’m real. It might be the toughest test you can face in my first title defense but like with the fight in Cuadras, I don’t hesitate because I’m here to take over. I want to see how the fight goes. We do [also] plan to drop to 112 lbs and win the world title there, and also hope to unify and be undisputed, and then go back to 115 lbs.
“There are so many good fighters, I want to fight Estrada and Chocolatito and then at 112 lbs Julio Cesar Martinez, Sunny Edwards, Junto Nakatani; There are so many great names out there and I would love to fight them all. “
However, ‘Bam’ must first find a way through Srisaket (50-5-1, 43 KOs), which will not be an easy task. Although the Thai boxer has had a few years of silence since losing to Estrada in April 2019, his heavy arms and near-relentless ability to apply pressure are sure to take control. evidence Rodriguez (15-0, 10 KOs) like never before.
Srisaket is now 35 – the same age as Gonzalez – but is still confident he can win the belt for a third time. “Even though Rodriquez is very young he is a strong champion,” he told The Ring this week. “He is not to be underestimated. [But] I’ve been training hard and I’ll do everything to make sure I’m in top shape on the night of the teamfight.
“I am more hungry than ever. I really want to be a three-time WBC world champion. I will be the first Thai boxer in history to achieve that. I want to face Estrada and ‘Chocolatito’ after this fight. That is still my ultimate goal.”
Bookies seem to have discounted Srisaket’s chance – last I checked Rodriguez was a 1/5 favorite, while Thais were on offer as widely as 4 or 5-1. With such long odds, Srisaket is definitely worth it. If he performs like he has done in the past, his pressured, hard hitting style, quite simply, can overwhelm the younger, smaller man.
The logical choice is for ‘Bam’ to win a clear decision, but this is theoretically predicted that Srisaket is on the decline.
If not, then the era of the ‘Four Princes’ may not be over yet.
