Francisco Rodriguez Jr. snatches the WBC interim title from Galal Yafai and becomes the mandatory challenger to Kenshiro Teraji.
Photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
Galal Yafai has suffered his first defeat as a professional – in his home city of Birmingham of all places. The British flyweight was clearly defeated on points by former unified minimumweight world champion Francisco Rodriguez Jr. and not only lost the WBC interim title, but also had to endure a tough lesson in the ring.
Yafai (9-1, 7 knockouts) came under pressure early on, suffered a deep cut over his left eye and also had to accept a knockdown in the twelfth round. All three judges scored the fight unanimously and clearly in favor of Rodriguez Jr. – 119-109 and twice 119-108. The Mexican Rodriguez Jr. (40-6-1, 27 knockouts) crowned himself the new WBC interim world flyweight champion with the victory.
With this success, the 30-year-old is now the official mandatory challenger for the Japanese WBC world champion Kenshiro Teraji, who will defend his title against Ricardo Rafael Sandoval next week in Yokohama.
Promoter Eddie Hearn was concerned about his protégé after the fight. He told The Ring:
“The last three rounds were hard to watch to be honest. I’m not sure Galal should have even been in the ring at that point – you can’t win anymore.”
Hearn continued:
“The power was gone, he was just taking hits. But Rodriguez was sensational. After six rounds, over a thousand punches had been thrown by both fighters. After 30 seconds, Galal was already ringing hard. Maybe he got one or two rounds in the first half – but after that it was completely one-sided.”
For Yafai, the defeat is a setback in his stellar career to date. Rodriguez, on the other hand, made an impressive return to the world championship stage and returned to the spotlight of the flyweight scene with the interim belt.