Matchroom Boxing announced a pair of June shows this afternoon with serious implications for the lower weight classes.
One sees WBA light flyweight champion Hiroto Kyoguchi make a long-delayed title defense against secondary titleholder Esteban Bermudez in Mexico City on June 10.
The other, much more stacked show features Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez’s inaugural super flyweight title defense against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai alongside a host of other title fights in San Antonio on June 25.
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San Antonio’s Rodriguez (15-0, 10 KO) became boxing’s youngest champion and one of 2022’s most impressive success stories when he moved up in weight on short notice to defeat Carlos Cuadras in February. That the bout even materialized was a remarkable bit of serendipity; the WBA yanked Bermudez from his planned fight with Rodriguez and Rungvisai (50-5-1, 43 KO) was forced out of the Cuadras bout due to illness.
The winner of Cuadras-Rungvisai had been promised a crack at the winner of Estrada-Gonzalez 3, which failed to materialize, so here we are: the ultra-slick youngster against the division’s most fearsome physical force.
“Fighting a guy like Rungvisai is going to bring me to a whole new level,” said Rodriguez. “He’s a great fighter but this is my time now. You have to take risks in this sport, that’s what special fighters do. They said it was a risk me challenging for a world title fight on short notice and now they say it’s a risk taking on a fighter like Rungvisai but this is what I want. These are the types of fights you need so you can be remembered by the fans long after your career is done.
“I’ve always said that me and my brother are going to bring the big fights back to San Antonio and this is just the start of it. We are so proud to be from this city and we get that love back from the people there so this will be a special night.”
“I am very excited for this opportunity to fight for the WBC world title,” said Rungvisai. “I will be at my best to win the WBC world title and become the first three-time WBC world champion in the history of Thailand..”
Three pounds south, Julio Cesar Martinez (18-2, 14 KO) looks to bounce back from last month’s one-sided loss to “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in a rematch against McWilliams Arroyo (21-4, 16 KO). The pair met last November and put on two excellent back-and-forth rounds before a gruesome headbutt-borne cut called a halt to proceedings.
Up at 122, unified champ Murodjon Akhmadaliev (10-0, 7 KO) finally gets to defend his belts against Ronny Rios (33-3, 16 KO), who was forced out of a previous date thanks to COVID. Akhmadaliev has a strong claim to being the best in the division, while Rios has been on a tear of late. That fight had just been announced by Golden Boy last week with a June 11 date, but this is an all-around better fit.
Finally, undisputed welterweight queen Jessica McCaskill (11-2, 4 KO) makes her second defense against TBA.
