“My nose hurts,” Argentina’s Fernando “Puma” Martínez said in between rounds 6 and 7 of his fight against San Antonio’s Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez. No shit.
Bam outboxed, outpunched, and outclassed Martínez through nine rounds of a surprisingly one-sided affair. In the 10th, Bam finished Martínez with a lethal left. It was a beautiful one-punch KO that solidified Bam’s status as one of the world’s best fighters. (He’s currently No. 6 in The Ring magazine’s pound-per-pound list.)
With his victory, Bam (23-0 with 16 KOs) took Martínez’s WBA super-flyweight title, which the San Antonian adds to his own WBC, WBO and The Ring’s belt. Martínez’s record now stands at 18-1 with 9 KOs.
The fight, as part of the undercard of David Benavídez vs Anthony Yarde fight for Benavídez’s WBC light heavyweight title, took place Saturday in Ryadh, Saudi Arabia, an event dubbed as Ring IV — a PPV DAZN event. At the time of the KO, the Current’s card had Bam winning 90-82.
Even though Martínez fought bravely and connected on occasion, he never hurt Bam, who won every single round and put on a masterclass.
“I knew I had him after the first round,” Bam said after the fight, giving credit to his opponent. “He was tougher than I expected.”
Bam, who saw the birth of his son Milo via FaceTime from Saudi Arabia, fought back tears in the post-fight interview.
“I could cry right now,” he said. “I missed his birth because I had to be here. It’s hard for me but it paid off. He’ll understand when he’s a little bit older. I did it for him, for my daughter, my girlfriend … . She always lets me do training camp, I’m very thankful to her, I love her a lot.”
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