Bairon Rodriguez vs Argi Cortes Preview August 16th, 2025
Bairon Rodriguez of Colombia meets Argi Cortes of Mexico this Saturday, August 16th in Mexico City. The 10-round junior bantamweight fight can be seen live on ESPN+, ESPN Knockout in Latin America and ESPN Deportes. This was supposed to be an elimination contest between Cortes and Australia’s Andrew Moloney for a shot at challenging IBF Junior Bantamweight Champion Willibaldo Garcia. The date and location were changed a couple of times though and Moloney finally pulled out of the fight and was replaced by Rodriguez. Cortes was last in the ring 12 months ago when he halted Salvador Juarez in the ninth round while Rodriguez fought in March and dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Bruno Macho in a shot at the vacant WBC Youth Inter-Continental Flyweight Title.
Rodriguez vs Cortes Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Bairon Rodriguez +890
- Argi Cortes -2000
My Pick
The 20-year-old Rodriguez fights out of Barcelona, Spain and enters the ring with a mark of 11-3 with 7 Ko’s and has boxed 74 rounds since making his pro debut in 2022. His first two losses came in 2024 when he dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Yahir Alan Frank Verdugo June and a 10-round unanimous decision to Alexis Diaz four months later when he was decked in the second round and deducted a point in the sixth round.
There is no height and reach information for Rodriguez so unfortunately we don’t know how he measures up against Cortes in those departments. We do know that he has decent power though as 63.6 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage, including his last two. However he’s just 1-3 in his last four contests after kicking off his pro career with 10 straight wins.
The 30-year-old Cortes makes the ring walk with a mark of 27-4-2 with 11 Ko’s and has fought 194 rounds since making his pro debut in 2014. Cortes isn’t known for his power as just 40.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage and he’s halted just one of his past nine opponents and that was Salvador Juarez in his last outing a year ago. Cortes has a great chin though as he’s never been stopped. He was a relative unknown until losing a close 12-round unanimous decision to Juan Francisco Estrada in 2022 after being dropped in the seventh round.
The other losses on his pro record came at the hands of Alan Blanco by way of third-round disqualification in his third pro fight in 2014; a four-round majority decision to Joaquin Cruz in his next fight a year later and a unanimous decision to Junto Nakatani in 2023 in a shot at the WBO Super Flyweight Belt. One of his two draws was also against Blanco as it was a five-round technical decision in 2017 and he also drew with Joel Cordova over eight rounds in 2018. Cortes has fought as a pro just once outside of Mexico and that was in Japan where he lost to Nakatani.
Cortes captured the IBF North American Super Flyweight Title in January, 2024 when he beat Victor Emmanuel Olivo via a 10-round unanimous decision. He hasn’t fought anybody of note other than Estrada and Nakatani and when moving up in class he has lost both times. Moloney has faced the stiffer overall opposition as a pro but has lost two of his last four fights. Cortes measures just over 5-feet-2-inches tall with a 65.5-inch reach so gives up 2.5-inches in height to Moloney but has a minimal half-inch reach advantage on him.
Prediction…
Rodriguez has more power than Cortes but lacks experience and has lost three of his past four fights. Cortes, who is ranked third in the world by the IBF, is fighting at home and has considerable boxing skills as he came close to pulling off an upset over Juan Francisco Estrada in 2022. I believe Cortes will triumph in Mexico but believe the fight has a good chance to go the distance.
Cortes is fighting at home and has the skills to do the trick.
Play: Cortes -2500 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Argi Cortes betting • Bairon Rodriguez betting