Bam Rodriguez vacates IBF flyweight title, Ayala vs Apolinario ordered
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez has given up his IBF flyweight belt, as expected.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez has officially vacated his IBF flyweight title ahead of a move back up to the super flyweight division to face Juan Francisco Estrada.
Rodriguez will take on Estrada in a June 29 DAZN main event from Phoenix.
The IBF has already ordered a fight to fill their flyweight title vacancy between Angel Ayala and Dave Apolinario. The sides have 30 days from March 28 to reach an agreement before the bout goes to purse bid, assuming neither fighter takes himself out of the bout.
Ayala (17-0, 7 KO) is a 23-year-old Mexican fighter who has never fought outside of his home country. He scored a very narrow decision win over Felix Alvarado in Merida last October, winning 114-113 on all three cards.
Apolinario (20-0, 14 KO) is a 25-year-old Filipino southpaw who has mostly fought at home, but has gone on the road for wins in South Africa and Japan (twice), and his last two bouts were the fights in Japan. The win over Gideon Buthelezi in South Africa netted him the lightly-regarded IBO “world” title in 2022, which was so important that Apolinario never defended it.