Most fight fans and experts agree: Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez absolutely belongs in the top 10 pound-for-pound rankings we all love to debate so much. Rodriguez has the credentials and the names on his record, and “Bam” has the sheer talent. But where in the top 10 does the unbeaten two-weight world champion deserve to be placed?
Fresh off his thrilling, ultimately crushing KO win over the previously unstopped Juan Francisco Estrada – a fighter whose image you would expect to see when looking up the word ‘tough’ in the dictionary – Rodriguez has got fight fans wondering how very great he can go on to become. At age 24, “Bam” could still be a year or three away from his peak years. As unique as he has been already, that’s quite a thought.
Rodriguez is not only skilled and exceptional, but he is also consistently exciting. The lower weights are buzzing right now, what with Rodriguez, Naoya Inoue (who is perhaps a future superstar dance partner for Rodriguez), Tank Davis, Nick Ball, Liam Paro, and others lighting up the sport with brilliant winning displays. It’s not all about the heavyweights; it’s not as great as that division has been these past few months.
So, again, where in the top 10 pound-for-pound rankings does “Bam” Rodriguez deserve to be placed?
Here’s a top 10 you may or may not agree with:
1: Naoya Inoue
2: Oleksandr Usyk
3: Terence Crawford
4: Canelo Alvarez
5: Tank Davis
6: Artur Beterbiev
7: Dmitry Bivol
8: Jesse Rodriguez
9: Junto Nakatini
10: Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Now, as we all know, it is impossible to compile a top 10 pound-for-pound list that everyone is happy with. Some excellent fighters are out there right now, and not all of them can be ranked in any top 10. Also, you may feel “Bud” Crawford is the top dog, not “Monster” Inoue. But it must be agreed that each of the top three guys on the above list is an exceptionally talented fighter. Swap the top three around, you may, but it is down to Inoue, Usyk, and Crawford as far as who the best fighter in the world is right now, pound-for-pound.