One of the best boxers in the world will attempt to add another title to his collection July 19.
The Ring has learned Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez will face Phumelela Cafu in a junior bantamweight championship unification fight that night at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. San Antoino’s Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs) will defend his Ring and WBC 115-pound championships against South Africa’s Cafu (11-0-3, 8 KOs), who owns the WBO belt.
DAZN will stream the card headlined by Rodriguez, ranked No. 6 on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list, and Cafu from the Dallas Cowboys’ 12,000-seat practice facility. Cafu is The Ring’s fourth-ranked contender for Rodriguez’s crown.
The 26-year-old Cafu won his WBO belt by upsetting Japan’s Kosei Tanaka by split decision in Cafu’s last fight October 14 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Tanaka (20-2, 11 KOs), who slipped to the fifth spot in The Ring’s junior bantamweight ratings, was consistently listed as an 11-1 favorite to defeat Cafu.
The left-handed Rodriguez, 25, most recently pummeled Pedro Guevara into submission November 9 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Rodriguez dropped Guevara (42-5-1, 22 KOs) twice in the third round, the same round when referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped their scheduled 12-rounder on the Jaron Ennis-Karen Chukhadzhian undercard.
Rodriguez hoped to battle IBF/WBA champ Fernando Martinez next in a different title unification fight that would’ve afforded Rodriguez the opportunity to add two more crowns.
Argentina’s Martinez (17-0, 9 KOs) instead accepted a rematch with Japan’s Kazuto Ioka (31-3-1, 16 KOs), which is scheduled for May 11 at Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo. Martinez won the WBA 115-pound crown from Ioka by winning a unanimous decision July 7 at Kokugikan National Sumo Arena in Tokyo.
Martinez is The Ring’s No. 1-ranked contender for Rodriguez’s title.
DAZN’s co-feature July 19 is a super middleweight match between Los Angeles’ Diego Pacheco (23-0, 18 KOs) and Trevor McCumby (28-1, 21 KOs, 1 NC), of Glendale, Arizona.
Pacheco is The Ring’s No. 2 contender in the 168-pound division. McCumby is not ranked among The Ring’s top 10 at super middleweight.
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.