'Bam' Rodriguez keeps 115-pound title with uppercut TKO of Guevara

One of the brightest young stars in boxing, Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez, kept the train rolling with a brutal finish Saturday night.

Rodriguez finished Pedro Guevara via TKO at the 2:47 mark of the third round to retain the WBC junior bantamweight championship at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Rodriguez drilled Guevara with a left uppercut to score his second knockdown of the bout and force the referee to call off the fight. Rodriguez dropped Guevara with a straight left earlier in the third.

Rodriguez controlled the fight from start to finish, demonstrating a comprehensive boxing skill set as he punished Guevara with heavy shots to the head and body. He masterfully cut off the ring to set up the devastating finish.

The 24-year-old outlanded Guevara 64-21 in total punches and 42-18 in power punches.

Afterward, Rodriguez's promoter, Eddie Hearn, said he wants to see the champion secure a junior bantamweight title unification bout or a matchup with Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez next.

The victory lifted Rodriguez's professional record to 21-0. The San Antonio native claimed the WBC 115-pound belt with a seventh-round knockout of Juan Francisco Estrada in June and defended it for the first time Saturday. Despite his age, Rodriguez is widely considered one of the world's 10 best pound-for-pound boxers.

Rodriguez previously held the WBO and IBF flyweight titles before moving up in weight earlier this year.

Guevara, a 35-year-old from Mexico, falls to a career 42-5-1 with the defeat. He had won two in a row coming in.