Notebook: Rodriguez believes he has earned his position in Canelo-GGG III co-feature

Pacheco excited to be on undercard; Quick hits; Show and tell

Sep 13, 2022

Rodriguez defends on Canelo-GGG 3 card. Click to order on PPV.com.

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Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez has taken the world boxing scene by storm this year and feels like his hard work is paying off by having his next WBC junior bantamweight title defense in the coveted co-feature position on the Canelo Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin III card.

Rodriguez will defend the 115-pound belt for the second time when he meets Israel Gonzalez on Saturday (DAZN PPV and PPV.com, 8 p.m. ET) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

He certainly has earned the position given his meteoric rise over the past seven months.

The 22-year-old Rodriguez (16-0, 11 KOs) became boxing’s youngest active titleholder when he won the vacant title on Feb. 5 by clear decision against former titlist Carlos Cuadras, whom he dropped in the third round, after moving up in weight and stepping in to replace the ill Srisaket Sor Rungvisai on six days’ notice.

Then Rodriguez had his first defense in a homecoming fight in San Antonio on June 25 against two-time champion Sor Rungvisai, whom he dropped in the seventh round before knocking him out in the eighth round of an extremely impressive performance.

“I’m right where I need to be,” said the Robert Garcia-trained Rodriguez. “It’s just the beginning and the sky is the limit for me. I can’t tell you how far I can go because I don’t know how to stop. I want to be one of those fighters that 20 years from now people say, ‘Remember ‘Bam’ Rodriguez? He was a bad dude.’ One of those legends.

“I feel like I’m getting the recognition that I deserve, and Saturday is the perfect platform to show everybody that I am the real deal.”

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The fight will be Rodriguez’s third in seven months and he knows that being featured on a card headlined by the a much-anticipated third fight between Alvarez and Golovkin, both obvious future Hall of Famers, for Alvarez’s undisputed super middleweight championship is a big deal.

“I don’t feel pressure because I feel I was born for this,” Rodriguez said. “I belong on these big stages. It’s where I feel comfortable. Headlining in San Antonio (and then) co-main to Canelo-GGG III, this is where I want to be. It’s been part of the plan and it’s great to see it play out. There’s expectation on me, all eyes are on me. I know that I need to perform at my best but that excites me.

“Canelo is the face of boxing, so to be the curtain-raiser for that fight is amazing. So many fans are going to be able to see what I can do. I’m only 22, so to be doing the things that I am doing, beating Carlos and Rungvisai, two of the four kings at (115 pounds), I never look back and feel I need to appreciate what I do, but I do downplay what I do because I’m a humble guy.”

Gonzalez (28-4-1, 11 KOs), 25, of Mexico, is getting his fourth crack a junior bantamweight title.

In his previous three attempts he was stopped in the 10th round by Jerwin Ancajas in 2018, dropped a majority decision to Kal Yafai later in 2018 and lost a wide unanimous decision to Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in 2020. Since then, he is 3-0-1.

Pacheco on the rise

Pacheco is on Canelo-GGG 3. Order on PPV.com. No subscription required.

Super middleweight prospect Diego Pacheco remembers the second Canelo Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin fight from Sept. 15, 2018 well. It is a date that has meaning to him.

“On the date of Canelo-GGG II, that’s the day that I signed my (promotional) contract with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom,” Pacheco said. “This has brought back so many memories and I’m honored to be on the card. I’m so grateful for where I am, and I just want to make the most of these opportunities.”

Pacheco (15-0, 12 KOs), 21 of Los Angeles, will go for his first regional title when he faces Enrique Collazo (16-2-1, 11 KOs), 33, a 2012 Puerto Rican Olympian, in a 10-rounder on Saturday’s Canelo-GGG III pay-per-view. The fight will be Pacheco’s first since signing an extension to his promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing in July.

As a young fighter, especially one in the same weight class where Alvarez rules as the undisputed champion, Pacheco said it is an honor to be featured on his undercard for the second time.

Pacheco also boxed on the undercard of Alvarez’s title defense against Avni Yildirim in Miami Gardens, Florida, in February 2021 and was one of his sparring partners when he was preparing to challenge then-champion Callum Smith in December 2020.

“I was part of Canelo’s camp for the Callum Smith fight in San Antonio, and I was meant to be on the undercard too, but I got sick in the build-up,” Pacheco said. “I got in trouble too because I didn’t want to tell anyone at first that I was sick because I really wanted to fight on the card, but I could have got Canelo sick and Covid was around then so I had to stop training and I couldn’t fight. So, it’s great to be here now.

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“Canelo is so strong. Even blocking or parrying his jabs, you can feel the power. His hands are like rocks. I was told I was only going to spar three rounds with Canelo, but then after three I was looking good, and I was moving well, and it was good for him, so it was ‘let’s do one more’ and ‘let’s do one more.’ We did six rounds and then I went back in again, so that made me feel good and working with (WBC interim titlist) David Benavidez is great for me. I’m doing lots of rounds with him and it’s all boosting my confidence. I’m a big GGG fan but I think that Canelo takes the third one.”

Quick hits

Junior welterweight contenders Subriel Matias (18-1, 18 KOs), 30, of Puerto Rico, and Jeremias Ponce (30-0, 20 KOs), 26, of Argentina, who are due to meet for the IBF title Josh Taylor vacated in late August, won’t be doing so on the Deontay Wilder-Robert Helenius Premier Boxing Champions Fox Sports PPV undercard on Oct. 15 as was expected. “I want to report that I will not be fighting on October 15 due to (Ponce’s) visa problems and now I will continue training. It is out of my hands,” Matias posted on social media. Taylor vacated to pursue another fight rather than face Ponce and Matias was next in line.

The Boxing Writers Association of America announced it will not hold its annual awards banquet in 2022 and will instead get back on regular schedule with a spring 2023 banquet around a major fight to honor the award winners from 2021 and 2022. The awards dinner schedule, like so many things, was thrown off by the coronavirus pandemic that forced dinners to be canceled, so the BWAA had its most recent awards dinner in New York in December to honor recent combined years and the decision was made not to hold another one six months later. The organization, however, will still nominate and later vote on 2022 award winners.

Show and tell

Julio Cesar Chavez was 81-0 and in the midst of a dominating WBC junior welterweight title reign and fellow Hall of Famer Hector Camacho was 40-1 and had won two fights in a row since an upset decision loss to Greg Haugen. Chavez and Camacho were two of the biggest stars in boxing so when they were matched it was a much-anticipated mega fight and one of the most anticipated fights in the history of the Mexico vs. Puerto Rico boxing rivalry. They met on SET PPV (the current Showtime PPV) in a fight dubbed “Ultimate Glory” at the sold-out Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Mexican Independence Day weekend. Unfortunately, the fight did not live up to the hype. Chavez won easily to retain his title for the ninth time, cruising to a one-sided decision — 120-107, 119-110 and 117-111. The fight was on Sept. 12, 1992 — 30 years ago Monday. Here is a program in my collection.