Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and Phumelele Cafu square off in a two-belt super flyweight championship unification on July 19 at Ford Center in Frisco, Texas. The contest is one of four Matchroom Boxing events the promotion announced this week.
San Antonio’s two-division champion Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs) puts his WBC title on the line. In his previous outing last November, the unbeaten 25-year-old southpaw stopped Pedro Guevara in the third round and retained his belt.
“I’m excited to finally step back into the ring,” Jesse Rodriguez said. “I cannot wait to fight in front of my home state fans. I’m looking forward to unifying in another weight division.”
“I know Cafu is a tough opponent, but these kinds of fights bring out the best in me, and I’ll be ready for whatever he brings. July 19th, tune in and witness greatness.”
Unbeaten Cafu (11-0-3, 8 KOs) of South Africa brings his WBO belt to the ring. The 26-year-old southpaw claimed the title last October, dethroning Kosei Tanaka (20-2, 11 KOs) by split decision.
“This is awesome, man, because once again I get to step in with an elite fighter and prove the world wrong, showing people that I’m also an elite fighter,” Phumelele Cafu said. “I’ve always wanted to fight him because people think he is the bogeyman of the division and say he is unbeatable, but I’ll prove to the people that no one is unbeatable. Beating him will put me on the pound-for-pound list, and I will be King of the division.”
The Rodriguez vs Cafu undercard features a super middleweight bout between Diego Pacheco of Los Angeles and Trevor McCumby of Yorkville, Illinois. 24-year-old LA native Pacheco (23-0, 18 KOs) is coming off a win by unanimous decision against Steven Nelson in January. 32-year-old McCumby (28-1, 21 KOs) of Yorkville, Illinois, suffered his first career defeat via ninth-round TKO against Caleb Plant last September.
In other events
A new IBF super featherweight champion is set to be crowned on May 28 in Yokohama, where Masanori Rikiishi (16-1, 11 KOs) of Japan faces Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez (27-1, 27 KOs) of Mexico. Also on the card, Yoshiki Takei (10-0, 8 KOs) of Japan makes the second defense of his WBO bantamweight title against Yuttapong Tongdee (15-0, 9 KOs) of Thailand.
A rematch between Manuel Gallegos and Khalil Coe is set for May 30 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The pair battle it out at light heavyweight. Mexico’s Gallegos (21-2-1, 18 KOs) stopped Coe (9-1-1, 7 KOs) of Jersey City, New Jersey, in the ninth round in their first fight last November.
Also on the card, Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela (30-4-1) steps through the ropes at super lightweight, and Christian Medina (24-4) makes his ring appearance at bantamweight.
Another world title bout features unbeaten Richardson Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) up against George Kambosos Jr. (22-3, 10 KOs) on June 14 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. Hitchins of Brooklyn makes the first defense of his IBF super lightweight belt, while Australia’s former unified lightweight champion Kambosos looks to land a title in his second weight class.
Other bouts for the above-mentioned events are expected to be confirmed shortly.