The boxer of Mexican origin Jesse Bam Rodríguez won the world bantamweight championship of the World Boxing Association (WBA) after defeating Antonio Vargas by knockout. The main event took place on Saturday night at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, marking the challenger's debut in the 118-pound division.

With this result, Bam Rodríguez joined the group of professional athletes who have obtained crowns in three different weight categories within their career.

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The fighter from San Antonio, Texas, had previously unified the belts in the flyweight (112 pounds) and super flyweight (115 pounds) divisions before moving up a division.

Tactical adjustments and definition in the ring

During the first two episodes of the fight, Vargas managed to contain his rival's approaches using his distance and left jab. However, the work corner led by Robert García modified the attack strategy, allowing Bam Rodríguez to increase the volume of combinations to the soft areas starting in the third round.

The definition of the fight began to be structured in the fifth round, when the Texan landed a left hand to the jaw that sent Vargas to the canvas for the first time in the evening. Although the defending champion managed to overcome the referee's protection count to end the episode, physical wear and tear limited his mobility for the following period.

The official outcome occurred during the sixth round, when a series of precise blows by Bam Rodríguez left Vargas without a defensive response on the canvas.

After the intervention of the central table official, the technical knockout was declared, which stopped the fight definitively to the applause of the fans.

Subsequent statements and goals at 118 pounds

At the conclusion of the formal awards ceremony in the center of the ring, the new WBA monarch spoke with the specialized magazine The Ring to explain his sporting philosophy after this new achievement in his career. The 26-year-old boxer emphasized that his technical and mental approach remains focused exclusively on the development of his long-term goals.

"I'm the type of person who is never satisfied. When I win a fight, the next week I'm already thinking about what's next. I don't like to look too much at my achievements or pat myself on the back. I'm proud of what I've done, but I know there's a lot more I can do," stated Bam Rodríguez.

The victory places the new champion as one of the main references in the division to negotiate unifications with other monarchs of the category. The projection of an eventual confrontation against the Japanese Naoya Inoue, absolute monarch of the 122 pounds, remains on the horizon of international promoters, once the mandatory contracts of the federation are defined.