Boxing
American champion names his toughest fight so far and it's not who you think it is
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Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez is preparing for the toughest fight of his life on Saturday.
As part of the brilliant Ring IV: Night of Champions card in Riyadh, live on DAZN PPV, Rodriguez takes on Fernando Martinez (18-0, 9 KOs) in a big super flyweight unification bout and the battle of the two unbeaten champions could well steal the show.
Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KOs) is aiming to add Martinez’s WBA strap to his own WBC and WBO belts and he is fully aware of the task in front of him in Saudi Arabia.
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“He’s probably my toughest opponent to date, on paper,” Rodriguez told The Ring.
“It’s one thing to say it, but I’ve never been inside the ring with him, so it’s hard to tell, physically, what kind of opponent he will be. But on paper, I feel like he will be my toughest fight.”
When it comes to who has provided his toughest test to date, Rodriguez had a surprising answer.
Many would expect him to say Juan Estrada, who dropped ‘Bam’ in the sixth round of their contest in June last year before the younger man knocked out the Mexican legend with a body shot in the following session.
However, Rodriguez singled out Phumelele Cafu as the hardest bout of his 22-fight career, having had some early difficulties in that fight before the South African’s corner threw in the towel in round ten.
“I’d say Cafu was my toughest fight,” Rodriguez added.
“I think it looked easy on TV just because he wasn’t throwing much. He was more on the defensive side, but just being inside the ring with him, he had power on his punches.
“And I wasn’t aware of when he was gonna throw, just because he was being really defensive. So, I feel like that’s what made it a difficult fight on my end. I had to be a little bit more cautious than usual.”
Watch Ring IV Rodriguez vs. Martinez live only on DAZN
Jesse Rodriguez vs. Fernando Martinez feature on a star-studded Ring IV fight card in Riyadh this Saturday, November 22. Watch it exclusively on DAZN PPV for £24.99 / $59.99.
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