Carlos Cuadras and Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez began the week expecting to face separate opponents in different weight classes.
A reshuffling of the deck has them facing each other in what now serves as the third announced event for the first stateside-based DAZN show of 2022. Both boxers made weight for their vacant WBC junior bantamweight title fight Saturday evening at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Cuadras (39-4-1, 27KOs) weighed 114.4 pounds in his bid to become a two-time WBC titlist. The 33-year-old from Mexico City—who held the WBC strap from May 2014-September 2016—came up short in his previous outing, trading knockdowns with Juan Francisco Estrada before succumbing in the 11th round of their October 2020 slugfest.
San Antonio’s Rodriguez (14-0, 10KOs) hit the scale at 114.1 pounds for his first major title fight. The 22-year-old southpaw was originally due to face Fernando Diaz (who still appears on the DAZN undercard) in a regional flyweight title fight before agreeing to step up in class and weight. Rodriguez—a top junior flyweight contender—is at his heaviest weight since his fifth pro fight, also marking just the second time he weighs any heavier than flyweight.
The vacancy in the main event came about after former lineal 115-pound champ and two-time WBC titlist Srisaket Sor Rungvisai fell ill shortly after arriving in Phoenix last week. Cuadras-Sor Rungvisai II was bumped up to main event after Jessie Vargas (Covid) was forced to withdraw from his planned clash with Liam Smith which was rescheduled for April 30 in New York City.
Sor Rungvisai (50-5-1, 43KOs) sought to avenge a May 2014 loss to Cuadras which ended his first title reign. The 35-year-old Thai southpaw will be in line to face the winner.
Also on the show, WBA bantamweight titlist Jamie Mitchell (7-0-2, 4KOs) faces Liverpool’s Carly Skelly (4-0-1, 0KOs) in a scheduled 10-round title fight between unbeaten bantamweights.
Mitchell—a 37-year-young Los Angeles-born boxer now based out of Las Vegas—weighed 117.2 pounds for the first defense of the title she claimed in a 10-round win over Shannon Courtenay last October in Liverpool. Skelly checked in at 116.1 pounds for her first career title fight as well as her U.S. debut.
Below are the weights for the remaining undercard bouts airing live on DAZN beginning 8:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. local time.
Raymond Ford (10-0-1, 6KOs), Camden, New Jersey, 126 pounds vs. Edward Vazquez (11-0, 3KOs), Fort Worth, Texas, 125.9 pounds—10 rounds, featherweight
Fernando Diaz (10-1-1, 3KOs), Riverside, California, 111 pounds vs. Lorenzo Smith (10-0, 8KOs), Phoenix, 111.5 pounds—8 rounds, flyweight
Khalil Coe (1-0-1, 1KO), Jersey City, 179.5 pounds vs. Dylan O’Sullivan (1-0, 0KOs), Johnson City, Tennessee, 177.9 pounds—4 rounds, light heavyweight (180-pound contract limit)
Below are the weights for the preliminary undercard bouts airing live on DAZN’s ‘Before The Bell’ series beginning 6:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. local time.
Elijah Lorenzo Garcia (9-0, 8KOs), Phoenix, 163.5 pounds vs. Antonio Louis Hernandez (6-11-2, 4KOs), Kansas City, Kansas, 162.5 pounds—6 rounds, middleweight
Adam Stewart (12-1-1, 8KOs), Phoenix, 234 pounds vs. Alvin Davie (6-2, 5KOs), Miami, 223.9 pounds—6 rounds, heavyweight
Aaron Aponte (4-0, 2KOs), Miami, 139 pounds vs. Louis Jourdain (2-0, 1KO), Beloeil, Canada, 138.8 pounds—6 rounds, junior welterweight
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox