American super flyweight champion Jesse Rodriguez is now the unified champion of the division after conquering Phumelela Cafu’s WBO title in a dominant contest. The two were the main-eventers of a Matchroom card held at The Ford Center in Frisco, Texas ― Rodriguez’ home state ― on Saturday, July 19.
Jesse Rodriguez vs. Phumelela Cafu
Entering the ring as the WBC super flyweight (118 lbs) champion, Jesse Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KO’s) headed into this second career unification fight against South African WBO champion Phumelela Cafu (11-1-3, 8 KO’s) ― who was involved in his maiden unification bout.
Despite Cafu showing his resilience and toughness as a champion, Rodriguez exemplified himself as the potentially best fighter in the 118 lbs division after stopping Cafu in the 10th round of their 12-round fight.
Preceding the stoppage was a dominant showing by Rodriguez who edged out the majority of the rounds by maintaining high pressure. Cafu took up a more counterpunch style where he found little success, though an early crucial punch landed on Rodriguez swelled the American’s fighter left eye.
However, the injury hardly seemed to derail Rodriguez as he dominated from mid-range, his combination punches most of all dictating the fight and winning him the rounds whereas Cafu, both defensively and offensively outmatched, struggled to counterpunch effectively and sustained plenty of damage in the rounds leading up to his eventual stoppage defeat.
In the 10th round, with but a minute remaining, Rodriguez landed a debilitating right hand that buckled Cafu but a potential knockdown never ensued as the two instead toppled into each other as Rodriguez sought to finish. Though the fight was continued, the towel was thrown in seconds later by Cafu’s corner to culminate in a technical knockout (TKO) win for Rodriguez.
Now the unified [WBC & WBO] champion of the super flyweight division, Rodriguez is set to head into another unification bout against IBF 118-pound champion Fernando Daniel Martinez (18-0, 9 KO’s) from Argentina. The two had already been announced to be part of the November 22 card that will be headlined by David Benavidez and Anthony Yarde prior to Rodriguez’ contest against Cafu.
Undercard fights:
At super middleweight (168 lbs), rising American contender Diego Pacheco (24-0, 18 KO’s) maintained his unbeaten record in a solid win over countryman Trevor McCumby (28-2, 21 KO’s). Pacheco carved out an easy and dominant unanimous decision (UD) win over McCumby that was scheduled or 10 rounds.
At middleweight (160 lbs), contender Austin Williams (19-1, 13 KO’s) recorded a deserving TKO victory over fellow American Ivan Vazquez (11-1-2, 8 KO’s) in the 9th round of their 10-round fight.
Both featuring at super welterweight (154 lbs), American prospect Omari Jones (3-0, 3 KO’s) and Indian prospect Nishant Dev (3-0, 2 KO’s) dispatched their opponents through a knockout (KO) and TKO respectively to maintain their unbeaten records.
