Rodríguez looking to unify in his next fight.
Jesse Rodríguez became the new WBA bantamweight world champion on Saturday, knocking out Antonio Vargas to claim a title at a third weight class.
This added itself to the list of Rodríguez’s other achievements, which include being a unified titlist at both flyweight and super-flyweight.
After his win, talk turned immediately to who the unbeaten Texan would face next, and there are several interesting options in that regard.
Being just one division below undisputed super-bantamweight king Naoya Inoue, a lot of fans have called for that terrific clash to take place next. Others, meanwhile, would like for Rodríguez to unify against Naoya’s brother Takuma.
That would certainly make sense to help strengthen the narrative of the Inoue fight, and it has been confirmed that Rodríguez is looking at unification next.
Only, it seemingly won’t be against the younger Inoue.
Rather, the American’s preference appears to be a clash against Christian Medina, an opponent who has been rumoured as a potential foe of his before.
Medina is the current WBO bantamweight champion, a status the Mexican achieved in September with a surprise stoppage over Yoshiki Takei in Japan.
In February, Medina successfully defended his title over former super-strawweight champion Adrian Curiel, a fellow Mexican.
Interestingly, if they were to fight, Medina would be the youngest opponent of Rodríguez’s career. He would, in fact, be the first fighter Rodríguez would face who is younger than him.
According to Robert Garcia (Rodríguez’s trainer), Medina is the fight they want at bantamweight before a move up to the super-bantamweight division.
From there, a titanic clash with Inoue could take place.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez is eyeing a unification bout with WBO bantamweight champion Christian Medina, Bam’s trainer, Robert Garcia tells The Ring’s @MikeCoppinger.
Garcia says they want one more fight at 118 pounds before moving up to 122. pic.twitter.com/xR210SV9uS
— InsideRingShow (@InsideRingShow) June 15, 2026
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