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Rodriguez dreams come true with short-notice shot at Cuadras

Rodriguez has accepted the call to fight Cuadras
Fighters Network
31
Jan

Jesse Rodriguez’s aspirations for fighting for a world title belt have finally come true.

Rodriguez will face Carlos Cuadras for the vacant WBC world junior bantamweight title on Saturday night, a source confirmed to The Ring Sunday night. ESPN’s Salvador Rodriguez was the first to break the story.

Jesse Rodriguez’s aspirations for fighting for a world title belt have finally come true.

Rodriguez will face Carlos Cuadras for the vacant WBC world junior bantamweight title on Saturday night, a source confirmed to The Ring Sunday. ESPN’s Salvador Rodriguez was the first to break the story.



The 12-round bout will take place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona and will stream live on DAZN (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).

Rodriguez (14-0, 10 knockouts), who resides in San Antonio, Texas, is taking the fight after Srisaket Sor Rungvisai reportedly was unable to secure a visa to enter the United States. Rodriguez also reported that Sor Rungvisai recently tested positive for COVID-19.

Cuadras and Sor Rungvisai were to face off in a rematch of their clash in May 2014, which Cuadras won by technical decision. The winner of the fight was scheduled to face the winner of the rubber match between Ring magazine champion Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez, but the fight was postponed after Estrada also tested positive for COVID-19.

Gonzalez will now face WBC flyweight titleholder Julio Cesar Martinez on March 5 in San Diego.

Rodriguez, who is ranked No. 5 by The Ring at 108 pounds, was scheduled to fight Fernando Diaz in a flyweight bout on Saturday’s undercard in Phoenix. It would mark his first fight under the Matchroom Boxing banner.

The 22-year-old last fought on October 16, battering Jose Alejandro Burgos before knocking him out in round 4. The southpaw Rodriguez has knocked out his last six opponents. Rodriguez is trained by Robert Garcia and is the younger brother of junior bantamweight contender Joshua Franco.

Cuadras (39-4-1, 27 KOs), who resides in Mexico City, was knocked out by Estrada in his last bout in October 2020. The former WBC world junior bantamweight titleholder had won his previous three fights since losing to McWilliams Arroyo by majority decision in February 2018.

Cuadras is currently ranked No. 6 by The Ring at 115 pounds.

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 at FSalazarBoxing

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