{"id":10149,"date":"2025-07-21T05:49:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T05:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/10149\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T05:49:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T05:49:09","slug":"bam-issues-puma-warning-after-tko10-win-in-cafu-unification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/10149\/","title":{"rendered":"Bam issues Puma warning after TKO10 win in Cafu unification"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jesse \u201cBam\u201d Rodriguez battered<\/a> Phumelela Cafu with a 10th-round stoppage win Saturday in a junior bantamweight title unification bout in Frisco, Texas. <\/p>\n

Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KOs) came in as The Ring and WBC crown holder and collected the WBO title that Cafu carried by breaking down the game South African, working Cafu from corner to corner by outthrowing and outlanding him in every round before his team threw in the towel. <\/p>\n

\u201cI knew he was a tough opponent, but not that tough,\u201d Rodriguez said during his post-fight press conference. \u201cI knew he had pop. I didn’t expect him to go that many rounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cafu is the latest victim for Rodriguez\u2019s fast-growing hit list that already features Juan Francisco Estrada, Sunny Edwards, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, and Carlos Cuadras. Next on the calendar is an undisputed title fight against WBA and IBF champion Fernando \u201cPuma\u201d Martinez (18-0, 9 KOs) on Nov. 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. <\/p>\n

The soft-spoken Rodriguez isn\u2019t a man of many words<\/a>, but he shared a simple warning message to Martinez. <\/p>\n

\u201cBe ready,\u201d said Rodriguez.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I send a message to the boxing world with every fight. I just keep getting better and better. I said before the fight that I felt this was going to be the best version of myself and I felt like I showed that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez\u2019s manager and trainer, Robert Garcia, and promoter Eddie Hearn said there were discussions for Rodriguez to next face Junto Nakatani instead of Martinez, but Rodriguez and Nakatani\u2019s mutual co-promoter, Akihiko Honda, was not keen on pitting two of his guys against each other<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Rodriguez\u2019s career-long coach Garcia also shared that The Ring\u2019s No. 7-ranked pound-for-pound fighter and two-division champion isn\u2019t even operating at the peak of his powers yet. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t want to say he’s in his prime because I think he has more to accomplish to get into his prime,\u201d said Garcia. \u201cHe’s only 25. Give him a couple of more years, and he’s definitely going to be pound-for-pound No. 1 and unstoppable. He’s doing it right now, but it’s going to be even better in a couple more years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring\u2019s lead writer. Follow him on X<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>: @ManoukAkopyan.