Turki Alalalshikh has revealed that WBC super flyweight champion Jesse \u2018Bam\u2019 Rodriguez will face WBA belt-holder Fernando Martinez (19-0, 9 KOs) in a unification fight in November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
However, Bam still needs to win his unification fight against the unbeaten WBO 115-lb champion Phumelela Cafu (11-0-3, 8 KOs) on July 19th at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. That fight will be shown live on DAZN<\/a>. Ring Magazine<\/a> reported the news from Turki Alalshikh.<\/p>\n Why Turki Announced Early<\/strong><\/p>\n The big question is why didn\u2019t Turki wait until after Bam Rodriguez\u2019s fight with Phumelela Cafu before announcing the unification fight with the Argentinian Fernando Martinez? Announcing the fight before Bam\u2019s match against Cafu is jumping the gun, as he may lose this fight.<\/p>\n It\u2019s bad form to announce a fight before an important unification fight. It\u2019s one thing if this were a tune-up for Bam, but this is a unification match against an excellent champion.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not as if Rodriguez, 25, is unbeatable. We saw Bam struggle badly in his fights against Cristian Gonzalez Hernandez and Israel Gonzalez. Those two matches show that Bam can\u2019t walk on water. He\u2019s human, and he may lose to the talented South African Cafu. This guy has a lot of talent and can punch.<\/p>\n Bam\u2019s Vulnerable Jaw Exposed<\/strong><\/p>\n Bam Rodriguez isn\u2019t hard to hit, and his big lantern jaw<\/strong> was already broken once by Cristian Gonzalez in the sixth round of their fight in 2023. Cafu might be able to duplicate that effort by targeting Bam\u2019s jaw, as it\u2019s the most noticeable feature on him. You might as well have a \u2018Hit me\u2019 sign attached to it.<\/p>\n The only reason I can see for Turki announcing the Martinez vs. Bam fight early is to increase interest in Rordriguez\u2019s clash against Cafu on July 19th. This is one way to do it, but still, it looks bad.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fernando Martinez, 33, looked like pure gold in his last two fights, beating IBF 115-lb champion Kazuto Ioka by a pair of 12-round unanimous decisions. There really wasn\u2019t any need for the rematch last May, because Martinez had dominated Ioka in the first fight in 2024, winning by the scores 117-111, 120-108, and 116-112.<\/p>\n