Jesse Rodriguez says he will live up to the hype and prove he’s ready to take over the Super-Flyweight division when he comes home to San Antonio and defends his WBC World title against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai at the Tech Port Arena on Saturday night, live worldwide on DAZN.

Rodriguez (15-0 10 KOs) won the title in stunning fashion, taking on Carlos Cuadras at just six days’ notice and flooring the former ruler in the third round with a devastating upper cut en-route to a wide points win.

Victory saw ‘Bam’ crowned the youngest active World champion in the sport and fans and pundits alike were quick to anoint the 22 year old as the future of the 115lbs division and more; but as Rodriguez prepares to face another massive test in the shape of Thai king Rungvisai, he says he can carry that weight of expectation with ease and will prove he is the read deal.

“A lot of people have eyes on me now and they are looking at me to take over the division,” said Rodriguez. “I’ve seen a lot on social media saying I am the new Choccy and that’s a lot of motivation and I want to live up to the hype.

“Rungvisai has been in with the best and beating him would really boost my confidence and skyrocket my career. I feel a lot stronger than I did against Cuadras. That wasn’t a fluke, I want to show I am the real deal. 

“It’s possibly the toughest test you could face in a first defense of my title but like with the Cuadras fight, I had no hesitation because I am here to takeover.

“I want to see how the fight goes. We do have plans to go down to 112lbs and win a World title there, and hopefully unify and become undisputed, and then come back to 115lbs. 

“There’s so many good fighters, I’d love to fight Estrada and Chocolatito and then at 112lbs there’s Julio Cesar Martinez, Sunny Edwards, Junto Nakatani; there’s so many great names and I would love to fight them all.”