Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez vs Srisaket Sor Rungvisai – Results & Post-Fight Report

On a bumper world title bill at the Tech Port Arena in San Antonio, Texas, Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez made a successful first defence of his WBC super flyweight title with an emphatic eighth round stoppage of former champion, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.

Rodriguez (16-0, KO11) stepped in at only a few days notice for Srisaket (50-6-1, KO43), and moved up in weight to win the vacant title in February, dropping Carlos Cuadras on the way to a clear points win, and Thailand’s Sor Rungvisai had previously reigned from 2017 to 2019, beating the likes of Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez twice in that run.

The opening round here was a relatively quiet one, with both men trying to establish their jabs, but the second saw some good back and forth action. Rodriguez though stepped things up a notch, and the third saw the champion land with eye catching combinations and also utilising his jab, to which Srisaket had little answer to. A right hand nearly had the Thai over in round four, and a right-left combination also had him wobbled a round later, with the fight becoming one way traffic. Rodriguez was simply a step ahead, and after another dominant frame in the sixth, Srisaket tasted the canvas, after being hurt by an uppercut, and then a left hand to the head. The challenger was being broken down, and the eighth saw the conclusion to the bout, as Rodriguez drove his man to the ropes, and unloaded until the referee stepped in.

Elsewhere on the card, Murodjon Akhmadaliev (11-0, KO8) retained his WBA (Super) and IBF super bantamweight titles, as he forced a final round stoppage against Ronny Rios (33-4, KO16). The Uzbek was already in control of the fight, and seemingly way ahead on the cards, but he applied the pressure and dropped Rios with a body shot. Rios bravely beat the count, but a follow up attack forced the stoppage, as Akhmadaliev moves closer to an undisputed title match with Stephen Fulton Jr.

Jessica McCaskill (12-2, KO5) continues to impress and improve, and she defended her undisputed welterweight gold by forcing Alma Ibarra (10-2, KO5) to retire on her stool at the end of three rounds. McCaskill was dominant, and landed with several spiteful shots, and between rounds three and four, Ibarra informed her corner that she couldn’t fight on.

Raymond Ford (12-0-1,KO6) convincingly won the battle of unbeatens, as he added the vacant IBF North American featherweight title to his WBA Continental Americas belt with a wide points win over Richard Medina (13-1, KO7). Two scores of 100-90, and a third at 99-91 confirmed the victory.

At super welterweight, Nikita Ababiy (12-0, KO6) stayed unbeaten, taking three 78-74 verdicts in his eight rounder with Noe Larios Jr (14-2, KO6), and at bantamweight, Jesus Martinez (2-0, KO0) had to come off the canvas in round three before taking a four round win on the cards against Keven Monroy (1-3, KO1).