By Dan Ambrose: Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed today that he wants to make a fight between boxing legend Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez and WBC super flyweight champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez for December.
It’s understandable why Hearn would like Bam Rodriguez to face Chocolatito next because he’s promoting the 22-year-old now and wants to turn him into a star.
However, Bam’s defensive fighting style, similar to his brother Joshua Franco’s, could turn that match into a tactical affair instead of an exciting one. A far more exciting fight would be a trilogy between Juan Francisco Estrada and Chocolatito.
That should be the match Hearn is focusing on rather than the Chocolatito-Bam match-up, but Eddie is impatient and moving Bam fast, hoping to hit the jackpot. Bam isn’t exciting to watch compared to guys like Julio Cesar Martinez & Chocolatito.
“I want to see Jesse Rodriguez against Chocolatito. I think it’s an all-time great fight, and we might make that for December,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV.
It could blow up in Hearn’s face if he makes that fight, as we just witnessed what Chocolatito did to Julio Cesar Martinez last March. Martinez is another one of Hearn’s fighters, and Chocolatito embarrassed him.
You can argue that Chocolatito would do the same thing to Bam Rodriguez, as he’s not an offensive fighter, lacks power, and would be focusing on spoiling.
There’s not much difference between Bam Rodriguez and his brother Joshua Franco in terms of their styles, and Chocolatito would have an easy time against him.
Hearn may need to convince ‘Bam’ Rodriguez’s trainer Robert Garcia to take the fight against the former four-division world champion Chocolatito Gonzalez (51-3, 41 KOs) next because he’s been vocal about his preference to have his fighter return to the 112-lb division.
Robert wants the 22-year-old ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (16-0, 11 KOs) to concentrate on winning belts at this point in his early five-year professional career, and there wouldn’t be a new title for him to capture if he were to face the 35-year-old Chocolatito.
It’s a wrong style match-up for Bam Rodriguez to take on Chocolatito because he’s a better-skilled fighter, hits harder, and has a much higher punch output.
The tactics that Bam Rodriguez utilized to defeat the aging Carlos Cuadras and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai recently, changing angles, clinching & jabbing, wouldn’t be as effective against Chocolatito because he knows how to defeat those types of fighters.
Robert wants Bam Rodriguez to challenge Julio Cesar Martinez for his WBC 112-lb belt next. However, Hearn says he wants to set up a unification fight between IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards and WBC champion Julio Cesar Martinez for October.
Hardcore boxing fans would prefer to see a trilogy match between Chocolatito Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada next than having the less entertaining Bam Rodriguez brought in.
In March, Estrada defeated Chocolatito by a questionable 12-round split decision last year in a fight that saw the two stars throw a combined 2,529 punches. The judges scored it 117-111 and 115-113 for Estrada, and 115-113 for Chocolatito.
