San Antonio’s rising boxing star, Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (17-0, 11KOs), plays host Saturday to his opponent Christian Gonzalez (15-1, 5KOs) live from the Boeing Center at Tech Port. The expectedly pro-Bam crowd is hoping to see the hometown kid become a 2-division world champion.

Bam Rodriguez had a meteoric year in 2022, which saw him become the WBC Super Flyweight World Champion – his first world title – after defeating Carlos Cuadras by 12-round UD in February. He would go on to defend that title twice more before vacating the belt to pursue Flyweight supremacy. Now, in his 2023 debut, he’ll get the chance to do just that.

Texas has always been home to some of boxing’s best at both the pro and amateur ranks, but over the past decade, we’ve seen dominance from fighters like the DFW’s Errol Spence and Vergil Ortiz Jr., or Houston’s Jermell Charlo set the bar for repping the Lone Star State.

However, as terrific as those fighters are, Bam Rodriguez checks every box on the build-a-star BINGO card. He has the talent, he puts on exciting fights, and he is competing at a weight with plenty of meaningful opponents.

Bam’s older brother, Joshua Franco, holds a world title at super flyweight. The two brothers built a reputation for themselves in the amateurs, and being separated by four years in age adds to their already close bond—Bam has stated that Franco is like a father figure to him.

The Rodriguez-Gonzalez feature bout will be streamed live on the DAZN app. With a win, Bam and his promoter have made it clear that a bout with Mexico’s Juan Francisco “El Gallo” Estrada—a fighter with years atop the pound-for-pound list.