Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez staying at 115, facing Israel Gonzalez on Canelo vs GGG 3 card

Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez won’t be going back down to flyweight for his next fight after all, as the WBC junior bantamweight titleholder is set to defend his belt, and on a huge night for boxing.

Rodriguez (16-0, 11 KO), who is boxing’s youngest world champion at the moment at age 22 and has made a huge splash this year with wins over Carlos Cuadras and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, will be in the chief support role for Canelo vs GGG 3 on Sept. 17, a DAZN pay-per-view and one of the biggest fights of the year.

“Bam” will face Israel Gonzalez (28-4-1, 11 KO), who in all honesty is a notable step back in competition, but one that’s earned as much as any is, and one that makes sense and gets him involved in a massive show, where he’ll have a lot more eyeballs on him than usual.

That said, Gonzalez is also not a “bum” or anything, though he will be a huge underdog for good reasons. You may have seen him in a loss to Jerwin Ancajas in an IBF title fight in 2018, or a loss to Khalid Yafai in 2018 in a WBA title, or a loss to Chocolatito Gonzalez in 2020, another WBA title fight.

Rodriguez has become a major fan favorite, is considered one of boxing’s bright young rising stars, and even if you see this as a stay-busy title defense, I think pretty much everyone will be happy to see him back again as part of this show.