British fighter Galal Yafai headlined a Matchroom card this past Saturday but came away with nothing but disappointment as Mexican contender Francisco Rodriguez Jr. labored to a wide unanimous decision, putting Yafai’s rising career to an abrupt halt. The two main-evented in Yafai’s hometown of Birmingham ― only adding to his loss ― at the bp pulse LIVE arena on Saturday, June 21st.

Galal Yafai vs. Francisco Rodriguez Jr.

Defending his WBC interim flyweight (112 lbs) title, Galal Yafai (9-1, 7 KO’s) was clearly the favorite against opponent Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (40-6-1, 27 KO’s) whose pedigree has made him a top contender at super flyweight (115 lbs), only further adding fuel to the loss Yafai would ultimately suffer. Coupled with the fact that Rodriguez moved down against Yafai after fighting at 115 lbs over the past three fights, Yafai’s performance now leaves questions towards his ability to become a world champion in the division.

The flyweight title bout was scheduled for 12 rounds as standard.

The defining characteristic of this fight were the physical attributes Galal Yafai seemed to lack as opposed to Francisco Rodriguez Jr. who was thrice as experienced at the pro level and has faced various type of fighters to make him well-suited against most top fighters at flyweight.

Despite moving down, Rodriguez’ power most resoundingly carried over into his match with Yafai as the British fighter largely struggled with the pace of the bout and the relentlessness of his opponent. The 1st round made that quite evident as Yafai opted to engage with Rodriguez up close to little effect, with his punches having less effect than expected.

Rodriguez, clearly used to fighting up close, maintained every advantage in the pocket, leading to a difficult round for Yafai that he arguably lost ― and further setting up the precedent of the match as the British fighter failed to adapt accordingly.

To Yafai’s credit, he was active within the early half of the fight, showing off his offensive skill through fluid and diversified combinations, yet Rodriguez himself impressed through his sheer resilience that allowed him to brush off most landed blows.

As the rounds passed, Yafai’s intent waned as he came to realize the ineffectiveness of his approach, especially as he did not manage to adjust as Rodriguez became more persistent on the front foot and up close. Likely due to a lack of professional experience ― participating in his tenth career fight, Galal Yafai continued to seek to trade with Francisco Rodriguez. By the 7th round, this backfired heavily as he became hurt in the 1st minute of the round and clinched onto Rodriguez in desperation.

This culminated in Rodriguez punching during the clinch and landing several blows which knocked Yafai down, marking the first knockdown he suffered in his career. Through the remainder of the round, Yafai was in survival mode but managed to avoid being dropped again ― though he failed to make a relative comeback.

The rest of the rounds saw Francisco Rodriguez Jr. get ahead on the scorecards as Galal Yafai faced the most difficult moments in his career as the Mexican fighter kept pressuring him, launching countless combinations as the round continued. By the 12th round, Rodriguez was well ahead and capitalized his looming victory with another knockdown in the first 40 seconds of the round.

Like the 7th, Yafai was unable to do much more than hold on as Rodriguez sought to finish him off but the British fighter remained standing. However, the defeat Yafai suffered was resoundingly clear by the time the judges announced Rodriguez as the winner by unanimous decision (UD) through scorecards of 119-108 twice, and 108-109.

As a result, Francisco Rodriguez Jr. has become the new WBC interim flyweight champion and is now the seemingly top contender to face WBC champion [as well as WBA champion] Kenshiro Teraji (25-1, 16 KO’s) next.

Undercard fights:

• British welterweight contender Conah Walker (16-3-1, 7 KO’s) continued his climb up the welterweight (147 lbs) rankings after recording a knockout (KO) victory over fellow Brit Liam Taylor (28-3-1, 14 KO’s) in the 7th round of their 12-round fight. With the 12-round fight further signifying the importance of their bout, Walker has now moved up to become a genuine top contender within the division and is likely set to join countrymen Conor Benn (23-1, 14 KO’s) and Lewis Crocker (21-0, 11 KO’s) on the top ranking boards.

• British southpaw and super bantamweight (122 lbs) contender Peter McGrail (12-1, 6 KO’s) has been active and winning since his surprise loss two years ago and netted his fourth back-to-back victory as he carved out a majority decision (MD) win against Romanian contender Ionut Baluta (17-6-1, 3 KO’s). As the MD suggests, McGrail faced difficulties during the fight after suffering a cut over the eye in the 6th round, but ultimately won a battle he was expected to win handily.