Jesse Rodriguez wants to shine on Canelo vs. GGG 3 card

Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez faces Israel Gonzalez as the co-main to Canelo vs. GGG 3.

The trilogy that everyone has been waiting for takes place this Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. Undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (57-2-2) will be defending his titles against Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin (42-1-1) in a fight that will look to settle a score years in the making. The co-main event features WBC super flyweight champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (16-0) going up against the battle-tested veteran Israel Gonzalez (28-4-1).

The WBC champion Rodriguez’s year has made him one of the bright young stars of the sport who look to become household names in the future. It all started in February when he stepped into a fight with Carlos Cuadras (39-4-1) as a last-minute replacement while the fight was one weight class higher than what Rodriguez would normally compete in. Rodriguez dismantled Cuadras and gave him a boxing lesson for twelve rounds, earning him the WBC super flyweight title.

After that fight, there was a decision to be made, and after thinking it over, Rodriguez decided to stay at super flyweight and defend his title against Wisaksil Wangek (50-6-1). Wagnek was avoided by many in the super flyweight division because of his heavy hands, but Rodriguez was up for the challenge. In June, the two met, and Rodriguez ended up stopping Wangek in the eighth round, which raised many eyebrows not only within the division but also throughout the boxing world.

Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennadiy Golovkin 3 will be streamed live this Saturday on DAZN PPV

Once again, it was decision time for the 22-year-old from San Antonio, TX, and he wasn’t ready to vacate his title, so instead, he will be defending it as the co-main in one of the year’s biggest events.

Rodriguez stopped by “The DAZN Boxing Show,” which is hosted by Ak & Barak, to discuss his newfound fame and the upcoming fight on Saturday night. Rodriguez told Ak & Barak, “I feel ever since my last two fights that I am finally getting the recognition I deserve. September 17 is the perfect platform to show everybody that I’m the real deal.”

One of the topics that was brought up with Rodriguez is his brother Joshua Franco (18-1-2) who holds the WBA super flyweight title. The soft-spoken Rodriguez said, “When we were talking before this interview, I said I want more for my brother than I do myself. When it’s all said and done, I want my brother to say he accomplished more than me, and I have no problem with that. He is my big brother, and I am his little brother.”

When discussing his upcoming opponent Gonzalez who recently went twelve rounds with the great Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (51-3), Rodriguez wasn’t disrespectful but was confident in his objective. “I believe it’s not going to be as tough of a fight than those two fights (Cuadras & Wangek), but he definitely does come to fight. He took “Chocolatito” (Roman Gonzalez) to the distance, so that says a lot. I’m going out there to make a statement, and I want to get him out of there early.”

While Rodriguez plans on making it an early night, what other plans may the young champion have in mind specifically about future opponents? Rodriguez told Ak & Barak “(Juan Francisco) Estrada, Sunny Edwards & (Junto) Nakatani. I would love those fights because they are already in the talks of boxing people, and they are fights people want to see. Chocolatito (Roman Gonzalez) and (Naoya) Inoue are two dream fights of mine, and I believe I can win both of those.”

You can watch the rest of the interview on “The DAZN Boxing Show” with Ak & Barak on DAZN.