SAN ANTONIO – After a career making year, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez is ready to break out for his first fight since September.
Rodriguez (17-0, 11 KOs) will face Cristian Gonzalez (15-1, 5 KOs) on Saturday, April 8 at the Boeing Center at Tech Port. The 12-round bout will be for the vacant WBO World Flyweight championship belt.
“I’ve been out here in California since late January, preparing for April 8th,” said Rodriguez last week.
Rodriguez will headline Saturday’s fight night. This will also be the second time “Bam” fights in the brand new Tech Port Arena. Rodriguez won there by TKO last summer while defending his WBC World Super Flyweight championship belt.
“I’m very excited to return to Tech Port‚’’ said Rodriguez. “After the first fight I had there, I fell in love with the venue itself. Just to go back and fight there and give the fans another show, it’s a great opportunity and I’m blessed.”
Gonzalez, who has spent his career fighting in his home country of Mexico, will be making his U.S. debut next week. Even though Gonzalez only fought once in 2022 and will have gone over a year of competing in the ring once he faces Rodriguez, “Bam” says he cannot overlook his opponent and give him a chance of defeating him in front of the hometown fans.
“I come to training camp with the same mentality, I take every fight as a world title fight,” said Rodriguez. “Every time I come out here I make sure I leave all my energy in the gym. Come April 8th I’ll be more than ready. I’ll make sure an upset doesn’t happen.”
Should “Bam” come out victorious, this would be his second championship belt in a second weight class.
Next Sunday night on Instant Replay, we’ll air Part II of our interview with “Bam” Rodriguez.
✌️ weeks out! 🇺🇸 #RodriguezGonzalez @210bam @raysavage856 @AkhmadalievMj @IsrailMadrimov @MarcTheBoxer @Khalilcoe1 @galal_yafai
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) March 25, 2023
Remaining tickets available ⤵️
The April 8 event will feature four fights centered around title belts. Tickets are still available at the Tech Port website or fans can see the fights live on DAZN.
Daniel P. Villanueva has worked with KSAT 12 for over 19 years and is an award-winning producer. To submit story ideas, email dvillanueva@ksat.com