Mexico’s Francisco Rodriguez Jr is the TSS Fighter of the Month for June

Mexico’s Francisco Rodriguez Jr is the TSS Fighter of the Month for June

At age 32, flyweight Galal Yafai was on the fast track.

On Saturday, June 21, in Yafai’s hometown of Birmingham, England, Francisco Rodriguez Jr knocked him off the rails.

There was a lot to like about Galal Yafai. One of three fighting brothers – the oldest, Kal Yafai, is a former WBA super flyweight champion – Galal was a decorated amateur, a gold medal winner at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and the 2020/21 Olympics in Tokyo.

Those achievements earned Yafai a long-term promotional deal with Eddie Hearn and he gave every indication that he would vindicate Hearn’s belief in him. In his fight prior to meeting Rodriguez, Galal pushed his record to 9-0 (7 KOs) with a sixth-round stoppage of former amateur rival Sunny Edwards, knocking the former IBF world flyweight champion into retirement. That bout, contested for the interim WBC flyweight title, was also staged in Birmingham.

At leading online betting shops, Galal Yafai was an 18/5 favorite (minus-360) over Francisco Rodriguez Jr. The veteran from Monterrey, Mexico was 39-6-1 (26) but, having answered the bell for 282 rounds, was considered a tad shopworn. Eleven years had elapsed since Rodriguez was a world title-holder, having held the IBF and WBO versions of the 105-pound diadem.

Shopworn? Au contraire.

Versus Yafai, Rodriguez started strong and finished with a flourish, knocking Yafai down in the final round. In the interim he kept his hands busy. Credited with landing 575 of 1089 punches, he won by margins of 11, 11, and 9 points.

Photo by Mark Robinson

“Rodriguez was too powerful, too aggressive, and too busy for Yafai,” wrote British boxing scribe Nick Parkinson who described Rodriguez’s performance as dazzling. Eddie Hearn would fault Yafai’s corner for not stopping the bout when it became too one-sided.

With the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, one can see that Rodriguez was sorely underrated. Four of his six losses came on the road against world class opponents: Kazuto Ioka and Junto Nakatani in Japan, Donnie Nietes in the Philippines and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in Nicaragua. Of that quartet, only Chocolatito was able to stop him and that came early in Rodriguez’s career.

With the win, Rodriguez came became the mandatory opponent for WBA/WBC flyweight belt-holder Kenshiro Teraji. But that match – if it should come to fruition – won’t happen very soon. Teraji has a date with SoCal’s Ricardo Sandoval on July 30 in Yokohama.

With his upset, Rodriguez became the latest Mexican underdog to wreak havoc in a UK ring. In recent years, Mexico City’s Mauricio Lara TKOed Josh Warrington and Leigh Wood and Mexicali’s Luis Alberto Lopez TKOed Michael Conlan in Belfast, beating the Irishman so thoroughly that Conlan was encouraged to retire. And while we’re on the subject, it’s notable that Rodriguez’s triumph came three weeks after another Mexican fighter, lightly- regarded Jose Armando Resendiz, forged the potential Upset of the Year when he out-pointed Caleb Plant in Las Vegas.

Francisco Rodriguez Jr is the TSS Fighter of the Month for June. Honorable mentions: Floyd Schofield; Holly Holm.

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