Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez vs Pedro Guevara

 

This fight is on the undercard of the Jaron Ennis vs. Karen Chukhadzhian fight. Jesse Rodriguez is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world today. He boasts a record 20-0, with 13 of those victories coming by way of knockout. At the age of 24, he is at the prime of his career and seems to be on the rise to higher prominence and stardom. Having won the WBC and the Ring Super Flyweight titles on June 29, 2024, against Juan Francisco Estrada, he defends his championships against Pedro Guevara, a former WBC light flyweight champion. Guevara is 11 years older than Rodriguez.

 

Guevara bested Andrew Moloney, a new retired fighter from Australia, to earn his mandatory challenger status.

 

Everything has going against Guevara on this one, including speed, strength, agility, and age. It would be putting too much hope to say that he has any chance against Rodriguez. He should be the 20-1 odds favorite against his opponent and should be able to beat his opponent in style.

 

But it's not as simple as it seems. Guevara is a veteran journeyman who knows his way around the ring. He actually upset Andrew Moloney, in which he was also the underdog. Moloney should have bested him, despite not being the same fighter he was before the fight against Junto Nakatani, but Guevara kept himself in the fight to give himself a chance. That fight was considered an upset. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though. The difference between Moloney and Rodriguez is not even comparable. No disrespect to Moloney, but it's not even close.

 

For Guevara, he must fight smart. He must not be baited into a slugfest with Rodriguez, or else it's going to be a quick night. Rodriguez's body punches can bring an opponent down and squirm in agony to the tune of a 10-count. The Southpaw power puncher will simply overwhelm him that way. He needs to move around, using his jab to draw Rodriguez as far away from him as possible. Bam will be trying to advance and perhaps be willing to take some hits along the way if he feels Guevara's punches are not strong enough. If somehow Bam feels unphased, it could also be a quick night for him that way too. The keys to victory for Guevara then become slimmer; however, if he can sting Bam enough to make him hesitant to attack, he can continue to use distance to win rounds that way.

 

Boxing is a tough sport, and there's always that chance Guevara lands a punch that can potentially change the pace of the fight. Then there's that pesky youth factor. Rodriguez's footwork makes it hard to rattle him, and it would be tremendously difficult for Guevara to throw him off his rhythm. Guevara has a habit of being too still sometimes when he attacks, leaving his head exposed. This is not a good habit to have when facing a power puncher like Rodriguez.

 

Jesse Rodriguez to win convincingly. The reason is that because of Rodriguez's youth and physical gifts, his path to victory is a lot more plentiful than that of Guevara.