Friday, March 29, 2024  |

News

Aficianado

Undefeated Jesse Rodriguez signs with Matchroom Boxing

Junior flyweight contender Jesse Rodriguez (center right) and team. Photo courtesy of Jesse Rodriguez on Twitter.
Fighters Network
28
Jan

Unbeaten Jesse Rodriguez, who is ranked No. 5 By The Ring at 108 pounds, has signed a multi-year promotional contract with Matchroom Boxing; it was announced on Friday morning.

Rodriguez’s first fight under contract with Matchroom will be against Fernando Diaz, on February 5, at Footprint Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. The 10-round flyweight bout will precede the main event between junior bantamweight contenders Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Carlos Cuadras.

Both fights will stream live on DAZN.

Rodriguez (14-0, 10 knockouts) was an amateur standout who has annihilated opposition as a pro thus far. The ultra-talented Rodriguez, who resides in San Antonio, Texas, had split recent fights on Top Rank and Matchroom Boxing cards but Eddie Hearn could not pass up the opportunity signing Rodriguez to an exclusive contract.



“I am delighted to welcome Jesse to the team,” said Hearn. “Jesse is a world champion-in-waiting and one of the most talented young fighters in the world. He’s itching to get his hands on a world title and make the biggest fights and he’s got a fantastic team around him with Robert Garcia, Teiken Promotions and Matchroom to give him the platform to land those fights and excel in them.”

The 22-year-old most recently fought on October 16, battering Jose Burgos before knocking him out in Round 4. In his previous fight in December 2020, Rodriguez stopped former world title challenger Saul Juarez.

Rodriguez, the younger brother of junior bantamweight contender Joshua Franco, is eager to face the upper echelon, including the world titleholders at 108 and 112 pounds after a win over Diaz.

“I am very excited to be joining the Matchroom team,” said Rodriguez. “This is huge for me and my career. This is my coming-out party. In 2022, we secure my world title shot and then go looking for the biggest fights there are out there.”

Garcia is also elated that Rodriguez was able to finalize a deal with Matchroom.

“We couldn’t be more excited about Jesse signing with Matchroom,” said Garcia. “They have a great team and have always been great to work with. Jesse is one of the most talented fighters I have ever worked with and I believe, with Matchroom, we have a future superstar.

“Matchroom has a great stable of world champions in the lower weight classes and we are excited to get Jesse in the mix with all of them. Jesse, Teiken Promotions and I are excited to join the Matchroom team.”

Diaz (10-1-1, 3 KOs), who resides in Riverside, California, knocked out Jan Salvatierra in his most recent bout on November 6. The 21-year-old is unbeaten in his last seven bouts since suffering the only loss of his career at the hands of Elihu Soto in April 2019.

 

 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @FSalazarBoxing.

 

 

SUBSCRIBE NOW (CLICK HERE - JUST $1.99 PER MONTH) TO READ THE LATEST ISSUE

 

SIGN UP TO GET RING NEWS ALERTS