Bam Rodríguez Strengthened His Case in July’s
Jesse “Bam” Rodríguez’s victory over Juan Francisco Estrada sharpened the debate in Bad Left Hook’s July 5, 2024, pound-for-pound rankings. The panel placed Rodríguez between fourth and sixth after his championship performance in Phoenix.
Three names at the top
All four writers placed Naoya Inoue, Oleksandr Usyk and Terence Crawford in their top three, but disagreed about the order. Scott Christ, John Hansen and Patrick Stumberg ranked Inoue first, while Wil Esco gave Crawford the leading position.
Those ballots reflected different judgments about achievement across weight divisions. The list combined individual assessments rather than awarding a championship or producing a single governing body’s official order.
Rodríguez’s breakthrough supplied the argument
On June 29, Rodríguez knocked out Estrada in the seventh round at Footprint Center. The victory returned the WBC super flyweight championship to Rodríguez and supplied the immediate competitive backdrop to the rankings discussion.
Hansen and Stumberg placed him fourth. Christ ranked him fifth, and Esco sixth. His position alongside established champions showed how strongly that latest performance influenced the panel.
The remaining places varied
Dmitry Bivol, Artur Beterbiev, Canelo Álvarez, Junto Nakatani and Kenshiro Teraji appeared across the ballots. Gervonta Davis, David Benavidez and Jaron Ennis also received selections.
The differences made the July list a useful snapshot of the discussion following Rodríguez’s win. Its ordering belonged to that particular panel and date, with subsequent fights capable of changing the arguments.
Sources
- Bad Left Hook: July 5 panel ballots and Rodríguez discussion
- WBC: Rodríguez’s seventh-round championship victory over Estrada
