Veteran Francisco Rodriguez Jr scored an upset in Birmingham, England, and did it in fashion, dominating Galal Yafai to win the interim WBC flyweight title on extensive, unanimous choice scores.
Rodriguez gained the combat on tallies of 118-109, 119-108, and 119-108, with no decide mysteriously seeing it nearer than the remainder of the world or something. This was a purely one-sided combat, with respect to the toughness and coronary heart of Yafai, and the scores mirrored that.
Rodriguez (40-6-1, 27 KO) had come up quick in large fights overseas many instances up to now, although not for lack of excellent effort. On this one, he simply took it to the 32-year-old Yafai (9-1, 7 KO), who was making an attempt to quick observe his technique to an actual world title combat after successful Olympic gold in Tokyo again in 2021.
Nobody ought to query Yafai’s coronary heart or willpower, as he took what is perhaps a career-changing beating on this combat, and going ahead can be one thing he has to consider. Regardless of the Olympic pedigree, Yafai has by no means been the stereotype of an “Olympic gold medalist,” as he’s extra fighter than boxer and never all the time defensively accountable, to say the least.
Rodriguez examined that from the get-go, letting his palms fly as he put some strain on Yafai, and Yafai was simply by no means in a position to actually get into the combat regardless of his greatest efforts. He was down as soon as within the twelfth and remaining spherical.
“We felt it was the one technique to win, like we virtually wanted to steamroll him tonight. That’s what my staff despatched me out to do,” Rodriguez stated. “I used to be going through an undefeated fighter, a star who was on the rise, and I needed to work doubly exhausting. He was at dwelling, as nicely. I used to be swimming in opposition to the present and we managed to get the job carried out.”
“I feel he did rather well to resist pictures,” Rodriguez stated of Yafai. “However he additionally was intelligent. The truth that he was in a position to seize maintain of me when he wanted to stopped me from knocking him out. Had he not carried out that, had he not clinched a lot, I might have knocked him out.”
The win might set Rodriguez, 32, up for a visit to Japan and a shot at unified WBC and WBA flyweight titleholder Kenshiro Teraji later this 12 months. Rodriguez has gone to Japan twice up to now, dropping to Kazuto Ioka and Junto Nakatani.
“I might actually sit up for that. I wish to say, Teraji, give me a name. We’ve a date pending after your combat in July, let’s get it carried out,” he stated.
Teraji will face Ricardo Sandoval on July 30 in Yokohama.
Conah Walker continued his scorching streak, retaining his British welterweight title with a seventh spherical knockout win over veteran Liam Taylor.
In a terrific motion combat, an actual battle, Taylor (28-3-1, 14 KO) gave all of it he had, however he was largely combating the combat that Walker (16-3-1, 7 KO) wished, and it paid off for Conah, as Taylor was simply out of gasoline in spherical seven and there for the taking. Taylor went out swinging, although, and the 34-year-old has completely nothing to be ashamed of with that effort and the profession he’s had, he’s a battler and he put the work in, however Walker, 30, is simply on a incredible run of type at home stage proper now, actually understands what he’s and isn’t as a fighter, and works exhausting to intensify the positives.
Peter McGrail dealt with his enterprise fairly properly in opposition to late substitute opponent Ionut Baluta, successful a majority choice on scores of 95-95, 97-93, and 97-93, and it was the even card that was essentially the most questionable, a minimum of from the place I sit.
McGrail (12-1, 6 KO) has responded properly with 4 straight wins after his upset loss to Ja’Rico O’Quinn, who has carried out completely nothing since aside from bail out of a deliberate rematch with McGrail. Baluta (17-6-1, 3 KO) has been a troublesome nut to crack for a lot of fighters through the years, and McGrail did a very good job on this one, having initially been slated to face Shabaz Masoud. Hopefully that one does get rescheduled, as a result of style-wise I feel it could possibly be actually attention-grabbing.
Pat Brown went to 2-0 (2 KO) with a simple third spherical stoppage of Croatia’s Ivan Duka (5-6, 3 KO). Brown figures to settle at cruiserweight when his profession will get critical, although for now he’s combating with contract limits a bit north of 200 lbs. He’s a promising younger fighter.
Talking of, 18-year-old Tiah-Mai Ayton made an attention grabbing professional debut, as she stopped Sara Orszagi (3-7, 0 KO) within the third spherical of a one-sided combat.
The matchup was chosen to be what it was, however Ayton really is somebody to place in your radar in girls’s boxing, and she or he is maybe an early take a look at the sort of younger fighter we’re going to see going professional an increasing number of on the ladies’s aspect of the game. We’re now 13 years faraway from girls’s boxing first hitting the Olympics, and we’re going to see much more of those younger girls who’ve been boxing since they have been young children, simply because it has been ceaselessly in males’s boxing, as a result of the material of girls’s boxing has modified with the Olympics and much higher highlight on the professional ranks after the Video games in London, Rio, and Tokyo. You’re going to see younger girls turning professional with rather more class and pedigree than up to now, way more commonly. It’s an thrilling factor, and it’s one thing that can proceed to occur within the years to return.
