Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez faces Cristian Gonzalez in the main event at Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, TX Saturday, April 8. The pair squares off in the scheduled for 12 rounds bout with the vacant WBO flyweight title on the line. The pair battles it out live stream on DAZN.
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Rodriguez (17-0, 11 KOs) was last in action in September 2022 in Las Vegas, where he scored a unanimous decision against Israel Gonzalez to make the second successful defense of his WBC super flyweight title. Last June, the 23-native of San Antonio, Texas went through the ropes in front of his hometown crowd and scored the eighth-round stoppage of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, after lifting the vacant belt by UD against Carlos Cuadras in February the same year in Phoenix.
Cristian Gonzalez (15-1, 5 KOs) of Tultitlan, Mexico makes his first attempt to land a world title. No. 2-ranked contender also makes his U.S. debut as well as first appearance inside the ring outside his home country.
Kicking off the fight week, the fighters went face to face for the first time at The Alamo in San Antonio.
“Fights in San Antonio are just different for me,” said Rodriguez. “The last one against Rungvisai in San Antonio was electric and exciting, so to get another opportunity to fight for another world title there in front of my fans is amazing.”
“San Antonio means everything to me, it’s where I was born and raised, my family and my people are there and whenever I step in the ring, they are with me. I represent San Antonio when I step in the ring, and I am doing this for my city.”
“The Rungvisai night was amazing. There was a lot of talk that I was going to get knocked out, that Rungvisai was too much for me, so when I stopped him, it was a moment I will never forget. The emotions were so high, that’s why I just fell to the floor, it was an amazing feeling.”
“Gonzalez is ranked #2, he’s tall, he’s lengthy and he likes to move a lot. So, we’ve been working on how I will close the distance and cut off the ring, I’ve been sparring taller guys so on April 8, there’s not going to be a problem for me to go in there and show what we’ve been working on.”
Among Rodriguez vs Gonzalez undercard bouts, Murodjon Akhmadaliev defends his unified WBA and IBF super bantamweight titles against Marlon Tapales. Also on the card, Raymond Ford puts his WBA Continental Americas featherweight belt on the line against former world champion Jessie Magdaleno. Plus, Thomas Mattice defends his WBC Continental Americas super featherweight strap against Ramiro Cesena.
In Australia, the event airs live on Sunday, April 9.
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