'Bam' KOs Guevara in 3rd round to retain title; 'Chocolatito' next?
Ford sharp in winning junior lightweight debut; light heavyweight Gallegos KOs Coe in upset; middleweight Williams stops Garrido
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Lineal/WBC junior bantamweight champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez stormed to a one-sided third-round knockout of interim titleholder Pedro Guevara in a mandatory fight on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
The bout was the co-feature of the Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN headlined by IBF welterweight titlist Jaron “Boots” Ennis’ rematch with mandatory challenger Karen Chukhadzhian, but Rodriguez, one of the best in the world pound-for-pound, has been a regular headliner.
Nonetheless, he embraced sharing a card in Ennis’ hometown, viewing it as an opportunity to gain valuable East Coast exposure and create new fans. It would be hard for anyone to come away from his devastation of Guevara anything less than impressed as he retained his 115-pound title in the first defense of his second title reign.
“That was like an artist at work,” Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said. “This young man is 24 years of age. He’s an exceptional talent. You’re talking about the future of boxing in this country, the future of boxing around the world. I think this kid is No. 3 in the world pound for pound (behind Oleksandr Usyk and Terence Crawford).”
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