Pound-for-pound superstar Jesse Rodriguez has revealed the toughest opponent of his career to date.
The 25-year-old from San Antonio has had an outstanding start to his tenure, remaining unbeaten through 23 bouts since making his debut back in 2017.
‘Bam’ made his highly-anticipated return to the ring last month, stopping Fernando Martinez in the 10th round of their Riyadh showdown to unify the WBC, WBA and WBO super-flyweight titles, on a card that also featured David Benavidez and Devin Haney.
Rodriguez has established himself as one of the most exciting fighters on the planet over the last 18-months, with many fans and analysts backing the Texas-native to sit at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings for many years.
Speaking to The Ring Magazine, ‘Bam’ didn’t hesitate to name Phumelela Cafu as the toughest opponent that he has faced during his career to date.
“I’d say Cafu was my toughest fight. 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.”
Rodriguez stopped South Africa’s Cafu in the 10th round of their unification clash at the Ford Center in Texas back in July to add the WBO super-flyweight title to his collection.
‘Bam’ is expected to return to the ring in the first quarter of 2026 with reports suggesting that he could be in line to face IBF super-flyweight champion Willibaldo García in a bid to become the undisputed king at 115lbs.
