Bam “The Battering Ram” KO’s Guevara in three
The WBC Flyweight Champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (21-0, 14KO), knocked out the interim champion, Pedro Guevara, in the third round, this Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center, in Philadelphia, United States.
Rodriguez’s dominance was evident from the beginning of the fight. He was more active and sharper, applying intense pressure at all times. Guevara was working more with his jab, moving around the ring and showing courage and ingenuity, which has characterized him throughout his career.
In the second round, Rodriguez punished Guevara with hard combinations to the body and head, paving the way for what was to transpire.
In the third round, Rodriguez continued to apply pressure, shortening the distance and with a jarring straight left sent Guevara to the canvas. Imbued with championship spirit and Mexican fighting courage, Guevara got up. But Bam continued to relentlessly pursue him, applying daunting plus exacting pressure, only moments later, sending the Mexican to the canvas again with a crushing uppercut to the chin, ending the fight at 2.47 of the third.
Bam went over to Pedro’s corner and the two men embraced. As Referee Ricky González read the result and raised Jesse’s hand, Pedro was the first to applaud him. A magnificently sporting gesture.
Bam had said, prior to fight night, that he was intent on becoming the first man to stop Pedro and he delivered on that goal emphatically.
With this resounding victory, Rodriguez improves his record to 21-0, with 14 knockouts, while Guevara is now 42-5-1, with 22 knockouts.
“Boots” drops and dominates Chukhadzhian in “OK performance”
IBF welterweight titlist Jaron Ennis was left with a lukewarm feeling following an underwhelming unanimous decision win in a rematch against Karen Chukhadzhian on Saturday night.
Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) dropped his mandatory challenger but failed to stop him, as many had expected him to do, and as he promised.
Instead, challenger Chukhadzhian (24-3, 13 KOs) showed a much better account of himself than their initial meeting last year and won several rounds across the scorecards, leaving many questioning Ennis’ leaky defence.
Judges scored the fight 119-107, 117-109, and 116-110. Chukhadzhian was also docked a point for holding.
Chukhadzhian landed 173 of 522 shots, while Ennis countered with 224 of 730. In their 2023 fight, the Armenian from Ukraine landed 97 of 573 shots, while Ennis landed 207 of 592.
“He had good toughness. He wasn’t really moving too much,” Ennis said during his post-fight press conference at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. “After I dropped him, I felt like he was holding ever since then. That’s on me though. I have to take a half-step back and start ripping shots and using angles and listen a bit more. My dad [and trainer Bozy] was saying everything right but I wasn’t doing it.
“I felt like it was an okay performance. I could have been way better. I could have listened to my team more and stopped being lazy, not bending my knees, not using angles, not jabbing, and just being smart.
“Next fight I’m going to be better … I felt good [at 147] but I am getting older. We’ll talk to the team to see what we’re going to do. I made weight easily, but we’ll see.”