Fighter of the Week (11/13-11/19): Jonathan Rodriguez
On an insanely busy fight week that featured a contender for Fight of the Year a young pound-for-pound superstar becoming a three-division world champion, and possibly the Upset of the Year, it wasn't supposed to be a largely unheralded bantamweight fighting a washed-up former world champ that captured the Fighter of the Week award. However, in the crazy world of boxing that is exactly what we got! Jonathan Rodriguez of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, absolutely annihilated former super flyweight champion Kal Yafai to become the WBA Inter-Continental Bantamweight, pick up the biggest win of his career, establish himself as a world title challenger, move his record to 17-1-1 (6), and brings home our Fighter of the Week award.
Puerto Rico has one world champion at 118 pounds, and now it looks like it has a second who could also get there! By the time you finish reading this, Jonathan Rodriguez could dismantle Kal Yafai. That is exactly what happened on Saturday night in Inglewood, California. In the opening stanza, Rodriguez landed a big right that dropped the former world champion. The Brit was able to make it to his feet but never got back on stable legs. Rodriguez jumped all over Yafai like a dog in fear. Unleashing power shots. One hook in particular during a heated exchange dropped Yafai a second time. The British boxer once again beat the count. However, his survival was short-lived. The Puerto Rican rocked him badly again with several shots, unloading unanswered shots when the referee jumped in to wave off the fight.
The bantamweight division is an intriguing one. It's loaded with pretty good fighters at various stages of their career but not really at great ones. Before Saturday night, at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California, Rodriguez's best win was over fringe journeyman Marvin Solano, and he had a loss on a relatively big card to Manuel Flores and a draw with a 10-20-2 fighter. Now less than two years after that draw, he finds himself on the verge of a world title fight. The IBF title is held by Manny Rodriguez, also of Puerto Rico. The WBC title is held by Alexandro Santiago, which would be a fun fight and a great chapter in the Puerto Rico vs Mexico rivalry. Takuma Inoue currently holds the WBA strap and represents what is likely the most winnable fight for J-Rod, and Jason Moloney holds the WBC. Good fighters, but none of them are remotely dominant world champions. Rodriguez would have a legitimate chance against any one of those world champions, who picked up their strap when Naoya Inoue left the division to take Stephen Fulton's straps.
