‘Bam’ Rodriguez Is Mexican Crawford, Predicts KO

Tim Bradley compared unified super flyweight champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez to Terence Crawford ahead of his unification fight against Fernando Daniel Martinez on November 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

‘Bam’ the Mexican Crawford?

Bradley says ‘Bam’ (22-0, 15 KOs) is a “Mexican Crawford” and he’s predicting an early six or seven-round knockout of the unbeaten WBA 115-lb champion Fernando ‘Puma’ Martinez (18-0, 9 KOs) in their undercard fight on DAZN PPV at the ANB Arena in Riyadh.

Inside Fighter vs Counter-Puncher

Bam’ actually fights nothing like Crawford. Unlike Bud, who tends to move a lot and counter-punch, ‘Bam’ enjoys fighting on the inside. He’s not afraid to get hit and doesn’t move around a lot. He’s the opposite of Crawford. It would be great for fans and for Turki Alalshikh if Crawford could fight like ‘Bam,’ because he wouldn’t have made a bore for his recent fight against Canelo Alvarez.

Rodriguez will have his WBA and WBO super flyweight titles at stake in his three-fight unification fight against the Argentinian ‘Puma’ Martinez in their fight on the David Benavidez vs. Anthony Yarde event.

“He’s a Mexican Crawford without the switching. It’s more about him fighting on angles,” said Tim Bradley on his channel, comparing unified two-belt 115-lb champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez to Terence Crawford.

Crawford Could Learn Something

‘Bam’ fights with the Mexican style, whereas Crawford fights like Floyd Mayweather, but is less willing to stand and fight than he was or any of the four all-time great fighters on the Mount Rushmore of boxing.

Rodriguez, 25, doesn’t waste changing stances the way Crawford does, because he doesn’t need to use junk gimmickry to win his fights.

KO Prediction in Riyadh

“I got Bam by knockout. It might go six. It might go seven. Yes, he is [Fernando Martinez = strong], but Bam is special. If this dude, Bam, were black, I think he’d be more appreciated. Nobody talks about Bam enough. I don’t feel like Bam gets that kind of respect from the Mexican people,” said Bradley.

Written by Nation Vegas, a Boxing Analyst covering world title fights since 2013.