By Gerardo Granados: It is possible that last Saturday night some fight fans have felt disappointed, for have witnessed a huge mismatch on the main event instead of a great fight. Maybe instead of seen a terrific fight, they saw an opponent who was not only not ranked in the weight division he moved up to fight but also didn’t have the tools to compete against any top ten contender in the welterweight division; one who had average speed and power to represent a real threat to a much better boxer who by the time of the fight was at least twelve pound heavier than him. There´s no need to say the name of the boxers involved I believe.
But, maybe that same day the reader was lucky enough to watch a fight that will be considered as a candidate for the Boxingnews24 fight of the year award. The WBO minimum weight Champion Francisco “Chihuas” Rodriguez vs IBF minimum weight Champion Katsunari Takayama resulted in a genuine championship fight. This one was no mismatch, nor disappointed the audience after seen an uncommon unification championship bout in the minimum weight division.
Since the first bell ring Takayama showed bad intentions trying to surprise Rodriguez, Katsunari had a superb stamina and great mobility, countered with hard shots taking advantage of his speed meanwhile Francisco pressed the full fight mixing his attack connecting the most solid punches in a battle of will to conquer his adversary. It was similar to the Rafael Marquez vs. Israel Vazquez battles.
The work rate of this fight was really high, resulting in an astonishing fan friendly fight that was not easy to properly score; the official score cards had Rodriguez winning by unanimous decision: 115-112, 116-111 and 119-108. I had it a lot closer with two rounds hard to score, with Rodriguez winning a close competitive and much entertaining fight by 114-113. The reader will be the best judge to tell if the 119-108 score is correct and undoubtedly you won’t feel disappointed for this genuine championship performance.
If the reader hasn’t seen this bout yet, then I recommend you to search for it and enjoy; if you have already seen it then I´ll ask. Would you like to see a Francisco Rodriguez vs Katsunari Takayama rematch?
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