3 hrs ago
2 min read
One door closes, another one opens for three-weight world champion Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez.
Plenty has been said about a potential Naoya Inoue mega fight in Japan up at junior featherweight, though that chatter can wait for another day.
Two years to the month he won the Ring title with a seventh-round knockout of long-reigning champion Juan Francisco Estrada, the 26-year-old is chasing greatness up another weight class.
He added WBA 118-pound honors to an ever-increasing list of silverware with a violent sixth-round stoppage of Antonio Vargas in Arizona on Saturday, days after his bantamweight move was made official.
The sanctioning body trio with which he held world titles have since responded, and The Ring's No. 4-rated pound-for-pound fighter headlines a smaller update this week.
Ring-rated cruiserweight contender Leonardo Mosquea (19-0, 12 KOs) kickstarted his 2026 with a first-round knockout against Mexico's Francisco Rivas Ruiz last Tuesday while Abraham Perez (15-0, 7 KOs) pitched a career-best split decision win over Jonathan Gonzalez to win a secondary flyweight title Sunday night.
Nonetheless, just two divisions have alterations, so scroll down to see them.
*Bold/italics denotes movement in the division.
Bantamweight
Rodriguez vaults to No. 3 at 118 pounds after toppling now-former champion Vargas, who drops three places to No. 8. WBO champion Medina and former WBC flyweight beltholder Higa drop a place each for the division's new entrant while Jason Moloney drops out as a consequence of the bottom three all moving down a space.
C (vacant)
- 1 SEIYA TSUTSUMI Japan 13-0-3 (8 KOs)
- 2 TAKUMA INOUE WBC Japan 22-2-0 (5 KOs)
- 3 JESSE RODRIGUEZ U.S. 24-0-0 (17 KOs)
- 4 CHRISTIAN MEDINA WBO Mexico 27-4-0 (19 KOs)
- 5 DAIGO HIGA Japan 21-3-3 (19 KOs)
- 6 RIKU MASUDA Japan 10-1-0 (9 KOs)
- 7 JOSE SALAS IBF Mexico 17-0-0 (11 KOs)
- 8 ANTONIO VARGAS U.S. 19-2-1 (11 KOs)
- 9 TENSHIN NASUKAWA Japan 8-1-0 (3 KOs)
- 10 MICHAEL ANGELETTI U.S. 15-0-0 (8 KOs)
Junior bantamweight
Only change here is a straightforward one, Rodriguez relinquishing his belt to pursue bantamweight leaving the weight class wide open again.
The WBA have already upgraded interim champion David Jimenez to full titleholder, while the WBC and WBO are expected to order bouts between their top-rated contenders for vacant championships in the coming days.
C (vacant)
- 1 FERNANDO MARTINEZ Argentina 18-1-0 (9 KOs)
- 2 DAVID JIMENEZ WBA Costa Rica 18-1-0 (12 KOs)
- 3 PHUMELELA CAFU South Africa 11-1-3 (8 KOs)
- 4 ANDREW MOLONEY IBF Australia 29-4-0 (18 KOs)
- 5 TOMOYA TSUBOI Japan 3-0-0 (2 KOs)
- 6 RICARDO MALAJIKA South Africa 17-2-0 (12 KOs)
- 7 ISRAEL GONZALEZ Mexico 32-5-2 (12 KOs)
- 8 WILLIBALDO GARCIA Mexico 23-7-2 (13 KOs)
- 9 THEOPHILOUS ALLOTEY Ghana 14-0-0 (11 KOs)
- 10 SIKHO NQOTHOLE South Africa 22-3-0 (13 KOs)
Update
Junior bantamweight
Bantamweight

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