Rodríguez vacates last 115-pound trinket.
On Saturday, Jesse Rodríguez knocked out Antonio Vargas to become the WBA bantamweight champion, his debut fight in the 118-pound division.
It is a victory that has only enhanced his pound-for-pound credentials, making him an undefeated three-weight world champion at only 26 years old.
This is just the latest performance in an elite run of form that dates back to 2022, a breakout year for Rodríguez that saw him shock Carlos Cuadras on short notice and win the WBC super-flyweight title.
After a couple of defences of this belt, he would drop down to flyweight and become unified champion, capping his stay at the poundage off with a stoppage of Sunny Edwards.
Rodríguez would then move back up to super-flyweight and reclaim his WBC belt, then added two more titles to his collection to unify there, as well.
Ahead of his victory over Vargas, he would vacate his alphabet straps to focus on bantamweight and above for the foreseeable future. However, he still held The Ring title ahead of his 118 pound debut.
That, however, is no longer the case, as Rodríguez has now also given up that belt, his last in the division.
Much talk has been had regarding a potential superfight between Rodríguez and Naoya Inoue, who currently resides just a division above the American. However, some would prefer a narrative-boosting affair with Takuma Inoue (Naoya’s younger brother), who reigns as the current WBC bantamweight champion.
Whichever route he takes from here, it is clear that the man known as “Bam” only belongs at the very top level of the sport.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez officially vacates his Ring Magazine junior bantamweight title after moving up a division to win another belt.
Bam has now vacated all of his titles in the 115 pound division. pic.twitter.com/9L2rjnZae5
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) June 15, 2026
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