Veteran Francisco Rodriguez Jr scored an upset in Birmingham, England, and did it in type, dominating Galal Yafai to win the interim WBC flyweight title on extensive, unanimous resolution scores.
Rodriguez gained the combat on tallies of 118-109, 119-108, and 119-108, with no choose 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 huge fights overseas many instances previously, 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 attempting to quick monitor his approach 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 may be a career-changing beating on this combat, and going ahead shall 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 arms fly as he put some stress on Yafai, and Yafai was simply by no means in a position to actually get into the combat regardless of his finest efforts. He was down as soon as within the twelfth and last spherical.
“We felt it was the one approach to win, like we nearly 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 house, as nicely. I used to be swimming towards 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 yr. Rodriguez has gone to Japan twice previously, dropping to Kazuto Ioka and Junto Nakatani.
“I might actually stay up for that. I wish to say, Teraji, give me a name. We have now 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 fuel 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 improbable 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 towards late substitute opponent Ionut Baluta, successful a majority resolution on scores of 95-95, 97-93, and 97-93, and it was the even card that was essentially the most questionable, at the least 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 tricky nut to crack for a lot of fighters through the years, and McGrail did a great 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 severe, 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 actually is somebody to place in your radar in ladies’s boxing, and she or he is maybe an early have a look at the type of younger fighter we’re going to see going professional increasingly on the ladies’s facet of the game. We’re now 13 years faraway from ladies’s boxing first hitting the Olympics, and we’re going to see much more of those younger ladies who’ve been boxing since they had been young children, simply because it has been ceaselessly in males’s boxing, as a result of the material of ladies’s boxing has modified with the Olympics and much better highlight on the professional ranks after the Video games in London, Rio, and Tokyo. You’re going to see younger ladies turning professional with way more class and pedigree than previously, much more often. It’s an thrilling factor, and it’s one thing that may proceed to occur within the years to come back.
