Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez stopped Antonio Vargas with a sixth-round technical knockout to become a three-weight world champion.
Rodriguez knocked down fellow American Vargas, who was defending the WBA bantamweight title at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, in the fourth round and landed a powerful left in the sixth before the bout was stopped.
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The 26-year-old, who has a 24-0 professional record, has held world titles at super-flyweight and flyweight.
Although he could remain in the bantamweight class to challenge WBO champion Christian Medina for another world title, Rodriguez has also been linked with a move up to super-bantamweight to challenge undisputed champion Naoya Inoue.
“I’m ready for whoever, whenever,” Rodriguez said. “Put them in front of me, and I’m going to say yes.”
Rodriguez landed 81 of 213 punches (38%) compared to 81 of 279 (29%) from Vargas.
It was only the second defeat of Vargas’ professional career, and his first since 2019, although he drew with Daigo Higa last July in the first defence of his bantamweight title.
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“He was a lot tougher than I thought,” Rodriguez said.
“He had good pop in his punches. I didn’t think he had pop like that.
“Even after that first knockdown, he got up and he was fighting like it never even happened. Respect to him.”
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