Diego Pacheco and his opponent, Trevor McCumby, weighed in successfully at Friday’s weigh-in for their super middleweight co-feature fight on Saturday, July 19th at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
(Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom)
Rodriguez vs. Cafu: Super Flyweight Title Fight Weigh-in
In the main event, WBO super flyweight champion Phumelela Cafu and WBC champ Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez also weighed in successfully.
Saturday’s event will be shown live on DAZN starting at 6:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. PT.
Weigh-in Results
- Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez 114.8 vs. Phumelela Cafu – 115
- Diego Pacheco 168 vs. Trevor McCumby 168
“Tomorrow is going to be a great night of boxing. Talk is cheap. I’ll show you tomorrow night,” said Jesse Rodriguez to DAZN Boxing, reacting to being told that Cafu is coming for his “head” on Saturday night to knock him out. “There’s never no pressure for me. This is what I do. This is my job. I’ve been doing this since I was 9 years old. So this is just another day at the office, come tomorrow night.”
Bam Rodriguez looked upset when he was told that Cafu said he’s coming for “his head,” and that he doubts he’ll be given a decision fighting the Texas native in his home state. That might be true. Cafu being given a decision against Bam would require an extraordinary performance of three to four knockdowns. Just beating him might not be enough.
Eddie Hearn on Jesse Rodriguez’s Potential
“Bam is getting the recognition he deserves as a true great of the sport. He’s 25 years old. He’s a double unified champion across two weights,” said promoter Eddie Hearn about Jesse Rodriguez. “He’s going to go on, in my opinion, and win world championships in four or five divisions.”
I doubt Bam will win division titles in five or even four weight classes. That would require Bam Rodriguez to defeat these types of fighters: Junto Nakatani, Naoya Inoue, and 126-lb champion Rafael Espinoza. If you know anything about those fighters, you’ll recognize how overmatched Jesse would be going against them.
“This is a big test for him tomorrow night. A big puncher in Cafu, who is very confident. A great fight card. Pacheco-McCumby would be the main event anywhere else. These guys here, they know a great fight night when they see it. We’ll have over 10,000 fans here tomorrow, and it’ll be wild,” said Hearn.
The risk of Bam Rodriguez fighting at home in Texas is that if he loses to Cafu, his fans will see it, and they may abandon him like rats jumping off a sinking ship. Jesse is a good fighter, but he’s not unbeatable. He’s been hurt and struggled against tough veterans. Cafu is one of the hardest punchers Bam will have faced, and he may be too much for him.
“It’s not just Texas. It’s America. They’re understanding what they have in Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez, a generational great fighter,” said Hearn.
It’s way too premature to call Bam Rodriguez a “generational great” or to predict that he’s going to win world titles in four or five weight classes. He might lose tomorrow night against Cafu, as this fight is far from a sure thing for Bam.
