On paper, it looks like Juan Francisco Estrada pushed Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez harder than anyone. Sixteen months ago, Estrada dropped Rodriguez in the sixth round of their WBC junior bantamweight title fight. Rodriguez beat the count and recovered, but on the cards he was in a real fight: one judge had Estrada up 57-56, another had it even at 56-56, before Bam turned everything around with a savage body-shot knockout in the seventh round.
Given Rodriguez’s resume heading into that June 2024 classic, it would be easy to assume Estrada gave The Ring’s 115-pound champion the toughest test of his eight-year, 25-fight career.