The diminutive American’s story is already exhilarating and his whirlwind 2022 could end with a fighter of the year award
“It’s crazy to be here,” Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez says as his eyes open wide and he looks around the gaudy old fight city of Las Vegas where, on Saturday night, he promises to breathe fresh hope into a dark and jaded business for the third time this year. Boxing is scarred by corruption and danger but, sometimes, it offers up an exhilarating story. Rodriguez is a little whirlwind who is only five foot four inches tall and until recently weighed only 108lb before he changed his life for ever. He is on course to become world boxing’s Fighter of the Year.
“For me, it’s just amazing and it’s come so fast,” Rodriguez says, his 22-year-old face lit by a stunned smile. “I always knew this day would come but I just didn’t expect it to happen this way.”