Rodríguez Jr. Demolishes Yafai: Goes for the WBC World Flyweight Title

Francisco Rodríguez Jr. nears a WBC world title after defeating Galal Yafai

Francisco Rodríguez Jr. demonstrated his power by defeating Galal Yafai and getting closer to the opportunity to compete for the WBC flyweight world title. Rodríguez was superior in strength, aggressiveness, and combat pace, surpassing Yafai, who lost his WBC interim title in Birmingham, England. The former minimum weight world champion, Rodríguez, managed to send Yafai to the canvas in the last round, consolidating an impressive performance that positions him as a strong contender in the flyweight category. Rodríguez (40-6-1, 27 KOs) won with scores of 119-108, 119-108 and 118-109 over Yafai (9-1, 7 KOs) at the bp pulse LIVE Arena, securing the possibility of becoming a world champion in two divisions this year. Yafai was overwhelmed by the ferocity and power of Rodríguez, who will now face the winner of the fight between Kenshiro Teraji (25-1, 16 KOs) of Japan, WBC and WBA champion, and Ricardo Rafael Sandoval (26-2, 18 KOs), from California, in Japan on July 30.

After so many defeats, we were able to achieve our goals. We felt that it was the only way to win that we had: to roll him over. That’s how we obtained the victory. I was facing a star, he was fighting at home, I was swimming against the current, so I had to work hard. Teraji, call me, we have a pending date after your fight in July.

Francisco Rodríguez Jr.

This was the first professional defeat for Yafai, who won an Olympic gold medal in flyweight in 2021 and had impressively knocked out former IBF flyweight world champion Sunny Edwards in the sixth round last November. Rodríguez, 32, from Monterrey, was the WBO and IBF minimumweight world champion from 2014 to 2015, but has recently competed at super flyweight and was dropping down a division for this title opportunity. Rodriguez, who hadn’t lost since a points defeat to the number 1 bantamweight, Junto Nakatani, in 2022, started strong and convincingly won the first round. Rodriguez even wobbled Yafai with a short left uppercut, thanks to his high pace that made his opponent uncomfortable.

Yafai couldn’t keep the distance, as Rodriguez constantly held him to keep the fight at close range. Rodriguez’s aggressiveness prevented Yafai from settling into his usual boxing. Yafai suffered a cut above his left eye in the second round, and in the fourth, blood was running down his face, which seemed to intensify his attack. Rodríguez also suffered a cut above his left eye. Yafai improved in the fifth round, connecting combinations that disrupted Rodriguez’s rhythm. Rodriguez, who was also cut above his left eye, retreated in the sixth round, but started the seventh with fury, sending Yafai backward with a left hook.

Rodriguez perhaps connected the best punch of the fight in the eighth round, a disguised left uppercut, but there was a worrying moment before the start of the ninth round when the ring doctor checked the cut above Rodriguez’s left eye.

Both sought the knockout in the ninth round, but Rodríguez finished better with a series of hooks. Despite the cut, Rodriguez was more fluid and powerful with his punches. In addition to being more dangerous with his punches, Rodriguez also outboxed the local hero. Yafai, outboxed in the final rounds, tried to box, but was constantly caught and, at the start of the twelfth round, finally succumbed when Rodriguez knocked him down with two right hooks and a left hook. Yafai, with his left eye affected, looked vulnerable for the rest of the round, while Rodriguez began and ended up dominating.