Bam Rodriguez prepares to challenge Antonio Vargas for bantamweight title

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Bam Rodriguez will look to make it a world title in a third weight class on Saturday, June 13, 2026, when he moves up to bantamweight to face WBA titleholder Antonio Vargas in a DAZN main event. Rodriguez looks the clear favorite in this one, and is seen that way by pretty much everyone, but does Vargas have any surprises in store? Can the underdog pull the big upset and derail any mega-fight plans for Bam and Naoya Inoue? Bam Rodriguez’s recent form The 26-year-old Rodriguez has been something of a marvel over the last four years and change, bursting onto the scene with a win over veteran contender Carlos Cuadras in February 2022, claiming the then-vacant WBC super flyweight title. He was moving up in weight and took a big opportunity, a late replacement for Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and pretty unknown outside of the SoCal boxing circles. He’d gotten a bit of buzz, but he was fighting at lower-mid levels to that point. He beat Cuadras clean and clear. He was, very suddenly, somebody to watch. But the question then became, can it last? Yes. He fought and stopped Sor Rungvisai less than five months later. He fought again three months after that, beating Israel Gonzalez, after which Rodriguez took a well-earned break and decided to move down in weight, as he and trainer Robert Garcia felt he wasn’t even truly a super flyweight yet, despite the incredible success he was having. So he dropped down to flyweight and beat Cristian Gonzalez for the WBO title, then unified with a dominant win over Sunny Edwards to add the IBF belt, after which he went back up to 115, stopped the likely Hall of Fame-bound Juan Francisco Estrada to win the WBC title, and followed that with wins over Pedro Guevara and Phumelela Cafu — where he added the WBO title — and finally Fernando Martinez, which added the WBA belt. Martinez was seen as the No. 2 man in the division. Bam dominated him, and stopped him in 10. The IBF title was just not in the cards despite promoter Eddie Hearn’s best efforts, so no undisputed run. But he was the unquestioned top guy at 115. He’s sat firmly on pound-for-pound lists for a couple of years now. And Rodriguez (23-0, 16 KO) is still young, with the potential to get better. Antonio Vargas’ recent form Vargas hasn’t had quite that sort of spotlight. He hasn’t had a big promoter, coming up with Boxlab Promotions and lower-level TV exposure. But he was consistent in plying his trade, mainly down at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Fla. Vargas (19-1-1, 11 KO) has lost before, as that record tells you. Jose Maria Cardenas stopped Vargas back in May 2019, which is seven years ago at this point. It’s not meaningless, but to say he’s surely matured as a fighter since is probably an understatement, and of all the ways someone can lose on the way up, getting caught and knocked out in one minute, 53 seconds is high on the list of those I think you can write off a little bit. A first round knockout in a fight of any legitimate level, even that lower-mid tier, tends to be fluky. And at any rate, he bounced back, which is a hugely admirable and desirable trait for any fighter. A late 2024 win over unbeaten Winston Guerrero netted Vargas the WBA interim bantamweight title, and then came the whole deal with the WBA belt. We’ve already been over it, but long story made short — although truly, please, go ahead and click on that for the full version — is that Vargas and Japan’s Seiya Tsutsumi have been sharing custody of the title for the last year. When one of them has a fight, he’s “the WBA champion.” Tsutsumi is recognized, for a second time, as “champion in recess” at the moment. There are several reasons why, but one of them probably has to do with Bam Rodriguez being a big name in these division, with a good promoter. Just in my opinion, though, the paper-ness of Vargas’ title situation is what it is. He’s hardly the only questionable “champion” among the many, spanning 17 weight classes up to four or five or six or seven “world champions” per division, depending on what you choose to consider. His last fight was a draw with the tough Daigo Higa back in July 2025, which came back 113-113 on all three cards in Yokohama, Japan. In a road fight against a good — if flawed — opponent, Vargas proved he’s not just lucky to be in the mix. He can fight. Who will win Bam vs Vargas? I don’t think the Bam Rodriguez train gets derailed on Saturday. I don’t think it even gets budged much. Rodriguez is coming up in weight, and everyone has a ceiling when climbing the divisions. In the last 20-ish years, we’ve seen a lot of guys go up and up and up pretty dramatically. But they all found a limit. Mayweather, Pacquiao, De La Hoya, Donaire — we’re talking Hall of Fame level guys here, all of whom achieved a lot, multiple-division champs and good champs at that, but they all found a weight that was a little more than they could reasonably handle and still be the best they could be. Even if they always saw it through and won at whatever that weight, they found the limit. Floyd Mayweather didn’t try to fight at 160 for a reason. Well, not Bud Crawford, I guess. Anyways, the point is, Bam will find that weight eventually. Naoya Inoue seems pretty set on staying at 122 instead of trying another move up to 126. He is seemingly at the weight he knows he’s pushing as far as he can go and still be himself, to the quality he has in him. I don’t think Rodriguez finds it at 118, though, at least not against Vargas or, potentially, Takuma Inoue. Even if his power dips somewhat, he’s so good that it should see him through this fight. He doesn’t rely on his power, doesn’t go out there to crush opponents. He gets stoppages, but they come without pressing too hard. They come because he’s great and he can punch. Vargas is a good, solid fighter. That description lost its luster in the boxing world after the many times Floyd Mayweather beat someone 119-109, but I actually think Floyd was capably describing pretty much all those guys, and it applies to Vargas. He is good. Bam Rodriguez happens to be great. We hear people talk about “levels” all the time, and this is a levels matchup. We also hear about “styles making fights,” and I just can’t see anything Vargas does that should give Rodriguez too much trouble. I’m expecting either a late stoppage when Bam has just broken Vargas down, both physically and spiritually, or a wide points victory with no questions remaining. Prediction: Bam Rodriguez by TKO between Rounds 9-12