Antonio Vargas vs Jesse Rodriguez Preview June 13th, 2026
Antonio Vargas of Houston, Texas journeys to Glendale, Arizona this Saturday, June 13th to defend his WBA Bantamweight Belt against unbeaten Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez of San Antonio, Texas. Rodriguez is moving up in weight as he’s a former WBC/WBO Super Flyweight Champion as well as a former IBF/IBO Flyweight Boss. Rodriguez last fought in November when he stopped Fernando Martinez in the 10th round. Vargas last stepped into the ring in July when he defended his belt via draw with Daigo Higa in Yokohama, Japan. This weekend’s 12-round fight can be seen live on most nations on DAZN. In his previous outing last July, Rodriguez stopped Phumelela Cafu in the 10th round to add the WBO Title to his WBC Belt. Vargas captured the interim belt in December, 2024 when he stopped Winston Guerrero in the 10th round. Guerrero was dropped in the first round and Vargas was down in the second round. Vargas was then elevated to the full champion when Seiya Tsutsumi was regarded by the WBA as Champion in Recess because of injury.
Vargas vs Rodriguez Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Antonio Vargas +1800
- Jesse Rodriguez – 10000
My Pick
Vargas, who fights out of Kissimmee, Florida, is 29 years old and carries around a record of 19-1-1 with 11 Ko’s. He’s got 112 rounds of experience to his name since turning pro in 2017 following an extensive amateur career. He captured a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games as a flyweight and boxed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, losing in the round of 16 to Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan. His lone defeat as a pro came at the hands of Jose Maria Cardenas when he was stopped in 113 seconds in May, 2019.
Vargas beat Jorge Perez via an eight-round unanimous decision to win the vacant NABA Jr Bantamweight Title. He also has wins over Felipe Rivas, Hernan Marquez, Lucas Rafael Baez, Jesus Martinez and Michell Banquez. Fourteen of Vargas’ 21 pro opponents have had winning records. As far as power goes, 58 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage, including six of the past seven. Vargas measures just over 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 66-inch reach.
The southpaw Rodriguez is currently one of the youngest pro world boxing champions as he’s just 26 years old. He enters the fight with a perfect mark of 23-0 with 16 Ko’s and possesses pretty good power in his arsenal with a current knockout ratio of 70 per cent and has stopped six of his past nine opponents. Rodriguez stands 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 67-inch reach to give up 1.5-inches in height while having a minimal one-inch reach advantage on Vargas. Rodriguez is the brother of former WBA Super Flyweight Champion Joshua Franco. Jesse made his pro debut in 2017 and has boxed 133 rounds since.
Rodriguez enjoyed a fine amateur career which saw him win the 2015 U.S. National Junior Under-17 Championship at 101 lbs, capture a silver medal at the 2015 World Junior Under-17 Championships at 101 lbs and win the 2016 U.S. National Junior Under-17 Championships at 106 lbs. As a pro, he beat Carlos Cuadras by unanimous decision to win the vacant WBC Super Flyweight Belt in February, 2022. He defended the title twice as he beat Israel Gonzalez by unanimous decision and stopped fellow southpaw and former world champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in the eighth round in June, 2022.
Rodriguez went on to win the vacant WBO Flyweight Title in April, 2023 when he beat Cristian Hernandez by unanimous decision and defended that belt for the first time and won the IBF version with his ninth-round stoppage of Sunny Edwards. Rodriguez also has wins over Armando Vazquez, Rauf Aghayev, Cesar Torrijos, Marco Sustaita, Janiel Rivera and Saul Juarez. He possesses excellent speed, skills, a solid chin and enough power to stop most opponents.
Prediction…
Vargas was perhaps lucky to escape with a draw against Daigo Higa last year but he’s a solid pro even though he may not be an elite world champion. Vargas isn’t known for his power either but he’s stopped most of his opponents lately and had an extensive amateur career. Rodriguez is widely viewed as one of the world’s top pound-for-pound boxers with good reason and he should win a world title in his third weight division this weekend. It’s quite possible that he’ll stop Vargas but the -10000 odds of winning may be a little generous to Rodriguez.
Rodriguez is a class above Vargas at the moment.
Play: Rodriguez -10000 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Antonio Vargas betting • Jesse Rodriguez betting • Jesse Rodriguez Franco betting