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Jesse Rodriguez (boxer)
American boxer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jesse James Rodríguez Franco (born January 20, 2000) is an American professional boxer of Mexican descent.[2] He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the unified World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Organization (WBO), and Ring magazine super flyweight titles since July 2025. He previously held the WBC super flyweight title in 2022 and the unified International Boxing Federation (IBF) and WBO flyweight titles from 2023 to 2024.
In February 2022, Rodriguez won the WBC super flyweight title by defeating Carlos Cuadras, becoming the youngest world champion at that time,[3] and the first fighter born in the 2000s to claim a world title.[4] He defended the belt twice before moving down to flyweight and unifying the WBO and IBF titles in 2023.[5] In June 2024, he made his return to the super flyweight division by defeating Juan Francisco Estrada to recapture the WBC super flyweight title and claim the Ring magazine belt.[6] In July 2025, Rodriguez defeated Phumelele Cafu by TKO in the tenth round to secure the WBO super flyweight title, unifying belts in a second weight class.[7]
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Early life
Rodriguez was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas.[8] His parents are Jesse Rodriguez and Maria Franco, and he is the youngest of four brothers.[9] At nine years old, he tagged along with his older brother Joshua Franco to the San Fernando Boxing Club for a couple of weeks to watch him train, before giving it a try himself.[10] It eventually led him to drop out of the 7th grade and switch to homeschooling to focus more fully on boxing.[11]
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Amateur career
A successful amateur boxer, in 2015, Rodriguez won the U.S. Junior National Championships at pinweight.[12] He returned in 2016, winning at light flyweight and being honored with the Outstanding Junior Male Boxer of the Tournament award.[13][14] Later that same year, he won the U.S. Junior Olympic National Championships, again at light flyweight.[15]
At the international level, Rodriguez won the silver medal at the 2015 Junior World Championships, losing in the final to Cosmin Gîrleanu.[16][17]
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Professional career
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Early career
Rodríguez made his professional debut against Mauricio Cruz on March 10, 2017, after being discovered by Danny Rangel, winning by unanimous decision. By the end of 2019, Rodríguez amassed a 10–0 record, with six of those victories coming by way of stoppage.[18]
Rodríguez was scheduled to face Marco Sustaita on February 29, 2020, on the undercard of the Mikey Garcia versus Jessie Vargas bout. Rodríguez won the fight by eighth-round technical knockout.[19] Rodríguez was next scheduled to face the one-time WBC light flyweight title challenger Janiel Rivera on September 5, 2020. He won the fight by a first-round knockout, managing to drop Rivera three times by the 2 minute mark of the opening round.[20][21] Rodríguez was scheduled to fight Saul Juarez on December 12, 2020, on the undercard of the Shakur Stevenson and Toka Kahn Clary junior lightweight bout.[22] Rodríguez lived up to his role as the significant betting favorite,[23] knocking Juarez out in the second.[24]
Rodríguez was expected to challenge the reigning WBA (Regular) champion Esteban Bermudez in late 2021, however the fight was later cancelled as it didn't receive approval from the WBA.[25] Rodríguez was instead scheduled to face Jose Alejandro Burgos on October 16, 2021,[26] whom he beat by a fourth-round knockout.[27]
WBC super flyweight champion
Rodriguez vs. Cuadras
Rodriguez was expected to face Fernando Diaz for the WBC USNBC flyweight title on February 5, 2022, on the undercard of the vacate WBC super-flyweight title bout between Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Carlos Cuadras.[28] Soon after this fight was revealed, it was announced that Rodriguez had signed a promotional deal with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing.[29] On January 31, it was announced that Rodriguez would be fighting 34 year old veteran Cuadras for the vacant title, as Rungvisai had withdrawn. For the fight, Cuadras was coming off a loss and 15 months of inactivity.[30] Rodriguez won the fight by unanimous decision. Two judges scored the fight 117–110 for him, while the third judge scored the bout 115–112 in his favor. He scored the sole knockdown of the fight in the third round, flooring the former titleholder with a right uppercut. Winning the title made Rodriguez the youngest active titlist in the sport.[31]
Rodriguez vs. Sor Rungvisai
Rodriguez was scheduled to make his first title defense against 35 year old veteran, former super flyweight titlist Srisaket Sor Rungvisai on June 25, 2022. This was Rungvisai's first fight after 16 month layoff. The title bout was booked as the main event of a DAZN broadcast card, which took place at the Tech Port Arena in San Antonio, Texas.[32] Rodriguez won the fight by an eight-round technical knockout, stopping Sor Rungvisai with a flurry of punches at the 1:50 minute mark. He knocked his opponent down once prior to the stoppage, dropping Sor Rungvisai with a left hook a minute into the seventh round.[33] Rodriguez outlanded Sor Rungvisai in both total punches landed (233 to 84) and power punches landed (119 to 72).[34] Following this victory, Rodriguez extended his contract with Matchroom Boxing.[35]
Rodriguez vs. González
Rodriguez made his second title defense against the three-time super flyweight world title challenger, and the #10 ranked WBC contender, Israel González. The fight was scheduled as the co-headliner of the Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin III DAZN pay per view, which took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada on September 17, 2022.[36] Rodriguez retained his title by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–109, 117–110 and 114–113. He was deducted a point in the eight round for landing a low blow, which left González on the canvas. González was dropped with a low blow in the eleventh round as well, although no point was deducted.[37]
On October 26, 2022, it was announced by the WBC that Rodriguez had vacated the super flyweight title in order to compete at flyweight.[38]
WBO flyweight champion
Rodriguez vs. Gonzalez
On October 28, 2022, the WBO ratings committee approved a request for Rodriguez to be ranked as the top contender at flyweight and immediately challenge for the title. As Junto Nakatani vacated the belt in order to move up to super flyweight, the sanctioning body ordered a vacant title bout between Rodriguez and Cristian Gonzalez, their #2 ranked flyweight contender.[39] The fight was booked to take place on April 8, 2023, at the Boeing Center at Techport in San Antonio, Texas.[40][41] Rodriguez won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 116–112, 117–111 and 118–110, to once again become the youngest active titlist in the sport. He revealed, in the post-fight interview, that he had suffered a broken jaw in the sixth round.[42] It was confirmed the following day that Rodriguez would have to undergo surgery to heal the injury.[43]
WBO and IBF flyweight championship unification
Rodriguez vs. Edwards
Rodriguez faced the four-time defending IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards in the main event of a DAZN broadcast show on December 16, 2023, at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.[44] He unified the titles by a ninth-round stoppage, as Edwards retired from the contest at the end of the round. Rodriguez was able to knock his opponent down once in the ninth round, dropping Edwards for the third time in his professional career.[45][46] Rodriguez outlanded Edwards 238 to 138 in total punches and 180 to 75 in power punches, successfully landing 62% of his power shots.[47] Afterwards, Edwards revealed he had suffered a fractured orbital bone earlier in the fight, causing him to see double.[48]
WBC super flyweight champion
Rodriguez vs. Estrada
It was reported on March 19, 2024, that Rodriguez was in negotiations with 34 year old veteran and WBC super flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada.[49] On March 28, 2024, the fight was officially announced. The fight was scheduled to take place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona on June 29, 2024.[50] This was Estrada's first fight in 18 months. Despite suffering the first knockdown of his professional career in the 6th round, Rodriguez won the fight by a seventh round knockout. He dropped Estrada once in the fourth round, before a second and final knockdown in the seventh round by body shot, whereupon the fight was stopped as Estrada was counted out. The three official judges were split on their scorecards at the time of the stoppage: one had the Rodriguez up 58-54, the second judge had Estrada up 57-56, while the third judge saw the fight as a 56-56 draw.[51]
Rodriguez vs. Guevara
Rodriguez was scheduled to defend WBC super flyweight title against 35 year old veteran, former light flyweight champion Pedro Guevara on November 9, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[52][53] Rodriguez won the fight by TKO in the third round.[54][55][56]
WBC and WBO super flyweight championship unification
Rodriguez vs. Cafu
Holding the WBC super flyweight title, Rodriguez defeated WBO super flyweight champion Phumelele Cafu by TKO in the 10th round to unify the titles at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas on July 19, 2025.[57][58][59][60]
WBC, IBF, and WBO super flyweight championship unification
On July 4, 2025, Turki Alalshikh announced that Rodriguez would be challenging Fernando Martínez next for his IBF super flyweight title in November.[61]
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Personal life
Rodriguez currently resides in San Antonio, Texas.[62] He has been in a relationship with Rebecca Delic since 2020, and they have a daughter named Mila together.[63]
Rodriguez is currently trained by Robert Garcia.[64] During training camps, he regularly trains with his older brother Joshua Franco, a former WBA super flyweight champion.[65][66]
Professional boxing record
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Titles in boxing
Major world titles
- IBF flyweight champion (112 lbs)
- WBO flyweight champion (112 lbs)
- WBC super flyweight champion (115 lbs) (2×)
- WBO super flyweight champion (115 lbs)
The Ring magazine titles
- The Ring super flyweight champion (115 lbs)
Awards
- WBC – Performance of the Year: 2024 vs. Juan Francisco Estrada[67]
- WBC – Revelation of the Year: 2022[68]
- ESPN – Best Fighter Under the Age of 25: 2023,[69] 2024[70]
- ESPN – Fighter of the Midyear: 2022[71]
- The Fight City – Fighter of the Year: 2022[72]
- The Sweet Science (TSS) – Breakthrough Fighter of the Year: 2022[73]
- BOXRAW – Breakout Star of the Year: 2022[74]
- The Fight Site – Breakout of the Year: 2022[75]
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See also
References
External links
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