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There’ll be one fewer title fight than expected this coming weekend. Matchroom Boxing revealed yesterday that rather than challenge Esteban Bermudez for the WBA “world” light flyweight title, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez will instead face Jose Alejandro Burgos on Saturday’s Garcia-Martin card.
UPDATE ℹ️ Jesse Rodriguez @210bam will now face Jose Alejandro Burgos on the #GarciaMartin undercard Saturday night in Fresno | @DAZNBoxing pic.twitter.com/6ovaSCmmF4
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) October 11, 2021
Matchroom did not give a reason for Bermudez’s (14-3-2, 10 KO) exit, which is as likely to be due to boxing politics as injury/illness. The 26-year-old Mexican, who rose to prominence in May by coming out of nowhere to smash Carlos Canizales, has a standing order to fight “super” champion Hiroto Kyoguchi and reportedly did not sign off on the Rodriguez (13-0, 9 KO) defense.
In steps Burgos (18-4-1, 15 KO), who’s a step down to say the least. “El Nino” is coming off a loss and has fallen short in every major fight to date, including a 2020 clash with Joshua Franco that saw him stopped in nine.
The card will still see Elwin Soto defend his WBO title against Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez in the co-feature.