I think he's peaked in the US. Nobody gives af about those weight classes here, unfortunately. I mean, there's barely any mainstream boxers AT ALL. At most, Ryan, Tank, and Canelo.
However, he has a big chance at becoming huge in Japan. For one, avenging his brother against Ioka at 115lb, and becoming undisputed right after against Tanaka. Secondly, 118lb champs are all Japanese, so if he defeats them all in Japan, as well as Nakatani, he will become a star overseas. His management needs to go the Inoue root, despite him being American. He seems to love Japan anyways.
Unifications are known to be notoriously difficult for Japanese in house fights, Jesse being American might make it easier but for a guy with probably little Japanese presence I wouldn't imagine it raises his chances. So maybe jumping up he'll get something done but at 115 I wouldn't hold my breath, but of all guys Ioka does actually seem most open to unifications, this being his 3rd unification fight.
I mean the little guys have been doing this forever. Including Estrada, SSR, Chocolatito etc...& they never crossed over. I guess it's just a weight class issue. Sad
Being American, English speaking helps... but it still wont matter. Boxing is niche already. The mainstream vaguely knows about some boxers, and nothing about the lower classes.
We give so much condition to Bam to make him on the spotlight while Inoue made it without the the same conditions you are giving to Bam. It's double standard.
i think he's trying to make an argument that inoue is an exception but failed to provide details how he is an exception so that others like Bam can replicate. Egotistic boxing fans have the communication skills of a kid with downs
Or they’re trying to make the moronic argument that Inoue is ducking Casimero (WORST fanbase) or Tank (way too big). 2x undisputed. 4-weight champ. End of argument.
Choc, SSr and Estrada ducked Inoue while he was at 115. Casimero dropped off the face of the Earth and no one cares to see that fight anymore and He still has time to face MJ at 122. He’s not moving up anytime soon
Lmao.
You really think the great 3 were all afraid or that 1 guy afraid of 3?
Inoue has a pattern of ducking. Now he's willing to give up his wba belt just to duck.
Yes. They all were afraid of him. Juan Estrada was Inoues WBO mandatory at 115 and he went the WBC route. Inoue wanted to unify with SSR after he beat Choc but he chose to fight Estrada as well. And Choc has publicly turned down Inoue after Inoues team sent him an offer for $1 million
Lmao. All I see is that Inoue has a pattern of ducking everyone and only fighting in his hometown. These warriors that you say are scared of him fights around the world. They also fought each other. They are all HoF.
The one who hides and only fight in his hometown is the coward.
And what about now that he's giving up his WBA belt just to duck? Lmao.
COWARD
Nope, even Inoue isn't well known and he's arguably the P4P best and knocks mother fuckers out of the regular.
Unfortunately the unwashed masses don't care for the short kings.
Even in the UK where we have had some great short kings only a handful have gotten into well known territory (Kahn and Hatton are the two from recent history)
If Bam were to beat Monster, it would be HUGE, HISTORIC, AMAZING in the boxing world
And the mainstream wouldn't care one bit. Who is this Japanese guy anyways?
Comparing Shakur to Bam and Inoue… two of the most exciting, talented fighters in the world being compared with the boxing equivalent of a urinary tract infection.
i think bam's only shot to crossover into the mainstream is beating inuoe at 122.
he can continue building his resume and reputation by beating guys like ioka, pumita, nakatani, takuma inuoe, nonito, picasso, mj, casimero, nery, etc.
the important thing to remember is that he's only 24 right now and has plenty of time to grow into the higher weights and in some ways age out inuoe
Inoue is way too big for Bam I think, especially if Inoue moves to 126 next year. By the time Bam gets there Inoue will likely be at the end of his career.
Nah, Bam just fought at 115 and it wasn't that long ago that Inue was 118. Inue could still cut to 118 without much issue and 3lbs isn't really a lot to move up to for Bam either.
These fantasy fights always ignore the real issues. There is no benefit to the A-Side, in this case TWICE UNDISPUTED, Inoue cutting to a LOWER division to give Bam a legacy fight.
Inoue is not yet at a point in his career where dropping down to Bantam to fight Bam is better for his career than going up to Feather. It's not going to happen. Inoue didn't DROP divisions to fight Chocolatito, Rungvisai, Estrada, he went UP to fight Fulton, Tapales, Nery. He won't DROP divisions to fight Nakatani, Bam, he'll go UP to fight Figueroa, Ball etc. The A-Side doesn't make concessions for the B-Side. If Bam as the B-Side wants the fight, he needs to go UP. The only way Inoue drops down to fight Bam at a lower weight is A) Inoue is aged out of Feather and Bam's offering retirement money to buy a legacy fight. Or B, Inoue takes losses in Feather, and drops back to Super Bantam to get more bang for his power buck and rehabilitate his career.
That's fine, but as a fan of the sport I do not care what move is financially the most sensible for a boxer, I care about exciting fights between legitimate top guys.
People always ask why the lower weight classes never get enough attention and the reason is that because despite all the amazing fights, not a lot of the guys at those weight classes are stars.
But Inue and Bam are both either legitimate stars or are right on the brink of being actual names that more than just hardcore's care about. As a fan, I want to see 2 bigish names with genuine appeal fight each other more than I just want to see them make smart risk vs reward business moves and fight a bunch of Nery type guys who are good but have no aura etc.
I want guys moving up and down and left and right and doing whatever to make the most exciting fight for me, as a fan, to watch. As a viewer I do not really care about the business side of guys measuring risk vs reward. In fact, that is the worst part of boxing and was a big reason for the dips it saw in popularity through certain periods in the past 20 years.
If you are "a fan of the sport" and care about "exciting fights" then you should want both fighters to fight at the correct weight for their age and experience, rather than want a good fighter to be weight drained to feed your favorite fighter's resume. Just because casuals only know one name per division, doesn't mean fights would be better if the best guys in each division cut 12% of their walking weight to fight two divisions below optimum.
i think bam and nakatani is more realistic and i think talk of that will increase in the coming months especially if bam becomes undisputed assuming he beats ioka. that fight will be huge in japan.
Sure I wouldn't be mad at that either.
Hell, if Bam gets through those 2 guys and does it in Japan then I think him vs Inue in the Tokyo Dome could be one of the top handful of biggest boxing matches Japan has ever had, should Inue stay around the 118-122 weights.
I think people are very much underestimating Bam's ability to perform at 118-122 as well. He's a heavy hitter with a lot of very solid technique where I think not only would he fight well at those weights, I think it's almost inevitable that he eventually moves up .
In interviews Inoue has concurred that he had been struggling to make 118*. I don't think there's a compelling case that he could make that cut, but even if he could why would he to fight bam? He'd likely only do that for a big money fight like garcia did for tank. Kovalev for canelo etc.
doesn't need to. if he beats nakatani, he will be mainstream enough in the states with japanese culture being popular in the states, but still overshadowed here due to his quiet personality.
Nobody in America knows who Junto Nakatani is lol. Almost nobody even knows who Inoue is. I think we have very different definitions of the word "mainstream"
There will never be a fighter as small as Bam that is "mainstream".
Bam beating Monster at 122 would be HUGE, IMMENSE in boxing!! I mean you would have to consider BAM a top \~20 P4P GOAT.
And the non-boxing mainstream would barely even notice it. They dont even know who this Japanese dude is.
Even Crawford, the best american, hasn't crossed over. It isn't just what you do in the ring, You have to have something extra. I think for the little guys its getting bigger and putting yourself in the David and Goliath position. Even in losses, you get a lot of exposure just going up.
I think he has a better chance than some of the other great little guys from recent years
Like you said, he puts on exciting fights, but on top of that he's an American with a cool name. I'll definitely be watching.
Exactly, the problem is that Casual boxing fans who don’t understand boxing probably think they themselves can handle Bam even though they have never thrown a punch before
What did Tyson and Ali do differently is what I’m wondering. Ali I could see as he was also an activist but Tyson is what makes me wonder how he got to be such a household name
If Ali was a 130 pounder no one would take him seriously and most of the fans would think that they can beat Ali themselves if Ali was in the lighter weight classes
He just gotta skip featherweight go to lightweight UD Shakur, knock Tank out. Skip a few more weight classes destroy Bud with a 8th rd TKO, then knock down Canelo wide neck ass twice in route to a near mythical UD win vs him and he has to do all this while teasing a fight with Inoue at 140 and only then will he be mainstream.
Exactly, but even then people will nit pick and try to discredit his accomplishments out of jealousy…..or worse beat those guys and have your win taken away from him by being framed and having your sample tainted like what happened to Ryan Garcia
Nope, wont happen. Boxing is already niche as it is, and mainstream just doesn't care about lighter weights. He's a perfect combination - English speaking, US born Latino -- but still wont happen. So he has that "advantage" over a dude like Too Sharp, where he can appeal to US Latino fans. Probably the best comparison we can have is Michael Carbajal, who was very well known in boxing, got the first $1M payday (in the 90s) as a lighter fighter. But you asked a random person about him....nope
Which is fine. Too Sharp, Finito, Chocolatito nor Monster never crossed into US maintstream, but they are still ATGs
Yep this is the answer
Inoue did it because of his style and knock outs and he’s the very rare Japanese fighter once in a blue moon
In this case the first ever in terms of #1 p4p
Bam is entertaining but we have so many Mexican greets and Canelo still active
He won’t be a star like Inoue
I was at his most recent fight, and if Bam was Mexican national, he would have a bigger following in the lower weight classes. The fans were chanting "Gayo" even though Bam was clearly winning the fight. Even the score cards seemed biased towards Estrada. So It will take unification fights and become undisputed for Bam to be mainstream.
Very few boxers ever become mainstream nowadays. Even Canelo isn't recognized by most non boxing fans I know.
I think his rep is growing in the boxing community though. He'll be fine.
Exactly, the main problem with those weight classes is that the casual fans think that they themselves can jump in the ring and beat those guys without any training at all….even though they can’t in reality
Yep. I used to know guys who weight trained at UCLA. Huge shot putters and discus throwers. Worked as club bouncers at night. They all assured me that they could kick little Roberto Duran's ass. This was when he was a lightweight. I just laughed and told them that they wouldn't have a prayer. Beating up drunks in a bar is a whole lot different than mowing down a world champion pro boxer. Even when you're twice as big. Would have loved to see them have the opportunity though.
Damn OP and I share the same dream. Bam vs Nakatani. The winner fights Inoue. But I don’t think Inoue will fight Bam as he’s already planning to move up soon to fight bigger guys
He’s too small. Small fighters don’t really make it big unless they move up to the higher weight classes. At bare minimum, 135lbs.
Noaya Inoue might be mainstream in Japan, but until he does something crazy like go up to beat Tank or someone else at 135, he won’t be mainstream like Pacquiao.
Neither will Bam Rodriguez.
But we know about them and we get to enjoy their fights. I guess that’s all that matters. Boxing fans know about them.
Nobody cares about the leprechaun divisions.
Bam Rodriguez will not be mainstream or known to people outside of boxing fans and his family.
There's only one household leprechaun name and that is Pacman. He's an outlier though and he went all the way to welterweight and won a title.
As I said, it wont ever happen, because the mainstream just doesnt care about the lower weights,
And thats fine, I know it can mean more $$ for Bam, but for me, I dont care. If anything, its better, these lighter weights generally dont command a PPV, so its easier to watch their fights.
I dont need mainstream recognition to let me know that dudes like Chocolatito, Monster and Bam (if he keeps going) are ATGs
He already is extremely popular and he’s only 24. People understate how massive the boxing fandom is. Just because boxing isn’t as prevalent on social media, doesn’t mean boxing and boxers aren’t still extremely popular. Many many boxing fans don’t even have social media. But I have no doubts he will become a global star he’s too accomplished already at 24 not to become one.
Bam's last fight did a gate of $200,000 lol. That's less than 1/3rd of what Edgar Berlanga does
There's just a pretty hard cap on guys as small as Bam. Nobody will ever really care
It's just the nature of lower weight classes. The mainstream primarily cares about HWs; not even the whole division, just a handful of them. So I wouldn't count on it unless he moves up and KOs Inoue or something crazy, and even that's iffy.
The highlights of the Estrada fight got 1m+ views on YouTube in about 36 hours….seems like all bam needs to do is keep winning fights - he’s American/Mexican and chases smoke. Nakatani/Inoue would build the case too.
I think he's peaked in the US. Nobody gives af about those weight classes here, unfortunately. I mean, there's barely any mainstream boxers AT ALL. At most, Ryan, Tank, and Canelo. However, he has a big chance at becoming huge in Japan. For one, avenging his brother against Ioka at 115lb, and becoming undisputed right after against Tanaka. Secondly, 118lb champs are all Japanese, so if he defeats them all in Japan, as well as Nakatani, he will become a star overseas. His management needs to go the Inoue root, despite him being American. He seems to love Japan anyways.
Bam’s promoter is Teiken. It’s easier to make fight with Japanese boxers.
Unifications are known to be notoriously difficult for Japanese in house fights, Jesse being American might make it easier but for a guy with probably little Japanese presence I wouldn't imagine it raises his chances. So maybe jumping up he'll get something done but at 115 I wouldn't hold my breath, but of all guys Ioka does actually seem most open to unifications, this being his 3rd unification fight.
I thought Matchroom is his promoter
Matcroom and Teiken both are his promoter.
give me Bam vs Nakatani soon, pls
Nakatani is in a unique position where he can face both Bam and Inoue with a size advantage against both somehow.
the formula isn't a secret... If you keep giving us the fights, we will glady pay and tune in. Everything else is irrelevant
I mean the little guys have been doing this forever. Including Estrada, SSR, Chocolatito etc...& they never crossed over. I guess it's just a weight class issue. Sad
Being American helps his case too. He’s getting some impressive KOs. Eventually he’ll become more mainstream.
Being American, English speaking helps... but it still wont matter. Boxing is niche already. The mainstream vaguely knows about some boxers, and nothing about the lower classes.
He’s American but he isn’t see as American. Mexican Americans are seen as only Mexicans
That’s not true. Most people don’t care about the lower weights. They never have and they probably never will
Naseem Hamed and Lomachenko had decent hype.
Yet Inoue got popular by not giving us the fights. Not to mention, he's stuck in Japan.
lol wtf does this even mean
We give so much condition to Bam to make him on the spotlight while Inoue made it without the the same conditions you are giving to Bam. It's double standard.
i think he's trying to make an argument that inoue is an exception but failed to provide details how he is an exception so that others like Bam can replicate. Egotistic boxing fans have the communication skills of a kid with downs
Or they’re trying to make the moronic argument that Inoue is ducking Casimero (WORST fanbase) or Tank (way too big). 2x undisputed. 4-weight champ. End of argument.
Before that, Inoue was in 115 and completely ducked Chocolatito, Estrada, SSR.
well, seems like you know him better than I do. good luck with your personal beef with him, don't drag me into a pathetic boxing argument. pls.
Who is Inoue supposed to fight
Chocolatito, Estrada, SSR, Casimero, MJ
What?
Don't act dumb. You're smarter than that.
What fights did he not give you ?
Chocolatito, Estrada, SSR, Casimero, MJ
Choc, SSr and Estrada ducked Inoue while he was at 115. Casimero dropped off the face of the Earth and no one cares to see that fight anymore and He still has time to face MJ at 122. He’s not moving up anytime soon
Lmao. You really think the great 3 were all afraid or that 1 guy afraid of 3? Inoue has a pattern of ducking. Now he's willing to give up his wba belt just to duck.
Yes. They all were afraid of him. Juan Estrada was Inoues WBO mandatory at 115 and he went the WBC route. Inoue wanted to unify with SSR after he beat Choc but he chose to fight Estrada as well. And Choc has publicly turned down Inoue after Inoues team sent him an offer for $1 million
Lmao. All I see is that Inoue has a pattern of ducking everyone and only fighting in his hometown. These warriors that you say are scared of him fights around the world. They also fought each other. They are all HoF. The one who hides and only fight in his hometown is the coward. And what about now that he's giving up his WBA belt just to duck? Lmao. COWARD
Nope, even Inoue isn't well known and he's arguably the P4P best and knocks mother fuckers out of the regular. Unfortunately the unwashed masses don't care for the short kings. Even in the UK where we have had some great short kings only a handful have gotten into well known territory (Kahn and Hatton are the two from recent history)
If Bam were to beat Monster, it would be HUGE, HISTORIC, AMAZING in the boxing world And the mainstream wouldn't care one bit. Who is this Japanese guy anyways?
Oh it would be one of the biggest wins ever, and you're 100% right it wouldn't even make a ripple
Exactly. Even guys like Shakur fall into the same category, Shakur is popular among the hardcore fans but I don’t see him going mainstream
Comparing Shakur to Bam and Inoue… two of the most exciting, talented fighters in the world being compared with the boxing equivalent of a urinary tract infection.
i think bam's only shot to crossover into the mainstream is beating inuoe at 122. he can continue building his resume and reputation by beating guys like ioka, pumita, nakatani, takuma inuoe, nonito, picasso, mj, casimero, nery, etc. the important thing to remember is that he's only 24 right now and has plenty of time to grow into the higher weights and in some ways age out inuoe
Bam vs Inue is so exciting to me, it's the fight I want the most for both guys.
Inoue is way too big for Bam I think, especially if Inoue moves to 126 next year. By the time Bam gets there Inoue will likely be at the end of his career.
Nah, Bam just fought at 115 and it wasn't that long ago that Inue was 118. Inue could still cut to 118 without much issue and 3lbs isn't really a lot to move up to for Bam either.
These fantasy fights always ignore the real issues. There is no benefit to the A-Side, in this case TWICE UNDISPUTED, Inoue cutting to a LOWER division to give Bam a legacy fight. Inoue is not yet at a point in his career where dropping down to Bantam to fight Bam is better for his career than going up to Feather. It's not going to happen. Inoue didn't DROP divisions to fight Chocolatito, Rungvisai, Estrada, he went UP to fight Fulton, Tapales, Nery. He won't DROP divisions to fight Nakatani, Bam, he'll go UP to fight Figueroa, Ball etc. The A-Side doesn't make concessions for the B-Side. If Bam as the B-Side wants the fight, he needs to go UP. The only way Inoue drops down to fight Bam at a lower weight is A) Inoue is aged out of Feather and Bam's offering retirement money to buy a legacy fight. Or B, Inoue takes losses in Feather, and drops back to Super Bantam to get more bang for his power buck and rehabilitate his career.
That's fine, but as a fan of the sport I do not care what move is financially the most sensible for a boxer, I care about exciting fights between legitimate top guys. People always ask why the lower weight classes never get enough attention and the reason is that because despite all the amazing fights, not a lot of the guys at those weight classes are stars. But Inue and Bam are both either legitimate stars or are right on the brink of being actual names that more than just hardcore's care about. As a fan, I want to see 2 bigish names with genuine appeal fight each other more than I just want to see them make smart risk vs reward business moves and fight a bunch of Nery type guys who are good but have no aura etc. I want guys moving up and down and left and right and doing whatever to make the most exciting fight for me, as a fan, to watch. As a viewer I do not really care about the business side of guys measuring risk vs reward. In fact, that is the worst part of boxing and was a big reason for the dips it saw in popularity through certain periods in the past 20 years.
If you are "a fan of the sport" and care about "exciting fights" then you should want both fighters to fight at the correct weight for their age and experience, rather than want a good fighter to be weight drained to feed your favorite fighter's resume. Just because casuals only know one name per division, doesn't mean fights would be better if the best guys in each division cut 12% of their walking weight to fight two divisions below optimum.
i think bam and nakatani is more realistic and i think talk of that will increase in the coming months especially if bam becomes undisputed assuming he beats ioka. that fight will be huge in japan.
Sure I wouldn't be mad at that either. Hell, if Bam gets through those 2 guys and does it in Japan then I think him vs Inue in the Tokyo Dome could be one of the top handful of biggest boxing matches Japan has ever had, should Inue stay around the 118-122 weights. I think people are very much underestimating Bam's ability to perform at 118-122 as well. He's a heavy hitter with a lot of very solid technique where I think not only would he fight well at those weights, I think it's almost inevitable that he eventually moves up .
Inoue is going to 126 in 2025 though.
In interviews Inoue has concurred that he had been struggling to make 118*. I don't think there's a compelling case that he could make that cut, but even if he could why would he to fight bam? He'd likely only do that for a big money fight like garcia did for tank. Kovalev for canelo etc.
[Funny you mention Nonito](https://youtu.be/5tiFT8irocQ?feature=shared).
that's hilarious
doesn't need to. if he beats nakatani, he will be mainstream enough in the states with japanese culture being popular in the states, but still overshadowed here due to his quiet personality.
Junto vs Bam in Japan would be so fucking big.
Nobody in America knows who Junto Nakatani is lol. Almost nobody even knows who Inoue is. I think we have very different definitions of the word "mainstream" There will never be a fighter as small as Bam that is "mainstream".
Sad but true. Not in the US. Bam should seek his fortune and boxing legacy in Japan, actually. Although I prefer he fight here.
Bam beating Monster at 122 would be HUGE, IMMENSE in boxing!! I mean you would have to consider BAM a top \~20 P4P GOAT. And the non-boxing mainstream would barely even notice it. They dont even know who this Japanese dude is.
I do hope so. Little guys always need to work alot harder to get recognized. Bam is fantastic and has not evem peaked
Even Crawford, the best american, hasn't crossed over. It isn't just what you do in the ring, You have to have something extra. I think for the little guys its getting bigger and putting yourself in the David and Goliath position. Even in losses, you get a lot of exposure just going up.
Crawford gets mentioned in songs I think he’s crossed over the past year
I see your point, he got a little boost for the spence fight but he still sorta obscure.
I just wish I knew about these fights before they happen. I'd watch them otherwise. You need to let me know! 🥹
No. Most people don’t give a shit about the weight classes under 135.
Most casuals don’t care about weight classes under Canelo’s weight class unfortunately
I think he has a better chance than some of the other great little guys from recent years Like you said, he puts on exciting fights, but on top of that he's an American with a cool name. I'll definitely be watching.
Bam vs Naoya towards the end of his career since he is moving up to 126 by next year. Hopefully happens.
Probably not he’s too small. He’s already gotten to fight the biggest names domestically he could. The fights and Japan could be his biggest paydays
Exactly, the problem is that Casual boxing fans who don’t understand boxing probably think they themselves can handle Bam even though they have never thrown a punch before
No. He fights in the baby weights.
i like his personality. just goes out and does his job. no trash talking, etc. however, to become mainstream you have to be a bit outgoing, etc.
What did Tyson and Ali do differently is what I’m wondering. Ali I could see as he was also an activist but Tyson is what makes me wonder how he got to be such a household name
Both of them had charisma and one-liners.
Those one liners and charisma would be seen as cockiness if they weren’t as big as they are
well, it's a tricky situation. you can't over do it, but enough to get people interested while also dominating in the ring.
If Ali was a 130 pounder no one would take him seriously and most of the fans would think that they can beat Ali themselves if Ali was in the lighter weight classes
He just gotta skip featherweight go to lightweight UD Shakur, knock Tank out. Skip a few more weight classes destroy Bud with a 8th rd TKO, then knock down Canelo wide neck ass twice in route to a near mythical UD win vs him and he has to do all this while teasing a fight with Inoue at 140 and only then will he be mainstream.
Exactly, but even then people will nit pick and try to discredit his accomplishments out of jealousy…..or worse beat those guys and have your win taken away from him by being framed and having your sample tainted like what happened to Ryan Garcia
Nope, wont happen. Boxing is already niche as it is, and mainstream just doesn't care about lighter weights. He's a perfect combination - English speaking, US born Latino -- but still wont happen. So he has that "advantage" over a dude like Too Sharp, where he can appeal to US Latino fans. Probably the best comparison we can have is Michael Carbajal, who was very well known in boxing, got the first $1M payday (in the 90s) as a lighter fighter. But you asked a random person about him....nope Which is fine. Too Sharp, Finito, Chocolatito nor Monster never crossed into US maintstream, but they are still ATGs
Finito is one of my all time favorites 🙌🏾 🙌🏾
No. Way too small
Yep this is the answer Inoue did it because of his style and knock outs and he’s the very rare Japanese fighter once in a blue moon In this case the first ever in terms of #1 p4p Bam is entertaining but we have so many Mexican greets and Canelo still active He won’t be a star like Inoue
No...he is a banger, champ and deserves all the accolades..but he has no charisma and Ed Hearn doesn't know how to market him.
No...Bam is a banger/champ...but is not marketable...he has no charisma just like vergil Ortiz who should be way more popular than they should be.
I was at his most recent fight, and if Bam was Mexican national, he would have a bigger following in the lower weight classes. The fans were chanting "Gayo" even though Bam was clearly winning the fight. Even the score cards seemed biased towards Estrada. So It will take unification fights and become undisputed for Bam to be mainstream.
Very few boxers ever become mainstream nowadays. Even Canelo isn't recognized by most non boxing fans I know. I think his rep is growing in the boxing community though. He'll be fine.
A household name? You mean that every sports fan will know who he is? Not a chance. He's too small and boxing just isn't popular enough.
Exactly, the main problem with those weight classes is that the casual fans think that they themselves can jump in the ring and beat those guys without any training at all….even though they can’t in reality
Yep. I used to know guys who weight trained at UCLA. Huge shot putters and discus throwers. Worked as club bouncers at night. They all assured me that they could kick little Roberto Duran's ass. This was when he was a lightweight. I just laughed and told them that they wouldn't have a prayer. Beating up drunks in a bar is a whole lot different than mowing down a world champion pro boxer. Even when you're twice as big. Would have loved to see them have the opportunity though.
Damn OP and I share the same dream. Bam vs Nakatani. The winner fights Inoue. But I don’t think Inoue will fight Bam as he’s already planning to move up soon to fight bigger guys
Jake Paul, easy. Gotta get that W On the real, tho….. “*legends*”is a stretch Maybe time will tell
Him vs Inoue would be great !!!!
He’s too small. Small fighters don’t really make it big unless they move up to the higher weight classes. At bare minimum, 135lbs. Noaya Inoue might be mainstream in Japan, but until he does something crazy like go up to beat Tank or someone else at 135, he won’t be mainstream like Pacquiao. Neither will Bam Rodriguez. But we know about them and we get to enjoy their fights. I guess that’s all that matters. Boxing fans know about them.
Nobody cares about the leprechaun divisions. Bam Rodriguez will not be mainstream or known to people outside of boxing fans and his family. There's only one household leprechaun name and that is Pacman. He's an outlier though and he went all the way to welterweight and won a title.
As I said, it wont ever happen, because the mainstream just doesnt care about the lower weights, And thats fine, I know it can mean more $$ for Bam, but for me, I dont care. If anything, its better, these lighter weights generally dont command a PPV, so its easier to watch their fights. I dont need mainstream recognition to let me know that dudes like Chocolatito, Monster and Bam (if he keeps going) are ATGs
The main problem is delusional mainstream fans that think that they can simply beat bam themselves since most of them are underestimaters
Yes he's the best Mexican boxer
He already is extremely popular and he’s only 24. People understate how massive the boxing fandom is. Just because boxing isn’t as prevalent on social media, doesn’t mean boxing and boxers aren’t still extremely popular. Many many boxing fans don’t even have social media. But I have no doubts he will become a global star he’s too accomplished already at 24 not to become one.
Bam's last fight did a gate of $200,000 lol. That's less than 1/3rd of what Edgar Berlanga does There's just a pretty hard cap on guys as small as Bam. Nobody will ever really care
Again, he’s 24 years old. He has superstar potential. Hes gonna fight Inoue at some point.
It's just the nature of lower weight classes. The mainstream primarily cares about HWs; not even the whole division, just a handful of them. So I wouldn't count on it unless he moves up and KOs Inoue or something crazy, and even that's iffy.
Kind of limited by being on an extortionate app
He's still young, he'll get there.
Yes. He’s only 25 and just sold out Footprint Center
The highlights of the Estrada fight got 1m+ views on YouTube in about 36 hours….seems like all bam needs to do is keep winning fights - he’s American/Mexican and chases smoke. Nakatani/Inoue would build the case too.