By Mark Eisner: Former WBC super flyweight champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (18-0, 11 KOs) dominated Cristian Gonzalez (15-2, 5 KOs), beating him by a twelve-round unanimous decision to win the vacant 112-lb title on Saturday night at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas.
The scores were 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112.
Undercard results
- In a massive upset, Marlon Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs) defeated IBF & WBA super bantamweight champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev (11-1, 8 KOs) by a twelve-round split decision in the chief support bout. The scores were 115-113, 115-113 for Tapales, and 118-110 for Akhmadaliev. Tapales built up a big lead in the first eight rounds, then held in the championship rounds when Akhmadaliev came storming back. In the end, he cam up a little short.
- Featherweight contender Raymond Ford (14-0-1, 7 KOs) defeated former WBO super bantamweight champion Jessie Magdaleno (29-2, 18 KOs) by a twelve-round unanimous decision, snapping a four-fight winning streak for the 31-year-old. The scores were 116-110, 119-107, and 119-107. Ford knocked Magdaleno down in rounds four and eleven. However, Ford lacked the punching power and aggressiveness to finish the job, which has been his problem his entire career. He lacks the killer instinct and has very little power. The way Ford fought tonight, he won’t do well against WBA featherweight champion Mauricio Lara.
- Super featherweight Thomas Mattice (21-3-1, 16 KOs) stopped Ramiro Cesena (16-1-1, 13 KOs) in the tenth round. Referee Rafael Ramos appeared to wave the fight off too quickly after Mattice hurt Cesena. The time of the stoppage was at 1:35 of round ten. In the eighth, Mattice had a point deducted for hitting on the break.
- Unbeaten junior middleweight contender Israil Madrimov (9-0-1, 6 KOs) defeated Raphael Igbokwe (16-4, 7 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision. Madrimov hurt Ibbokwe in the tenth round with a left hook and a big right uppercut. However, Igbokwe, 30, made it out of the just barely. The scores were 100-90, 99-91, and 99-91. Madrimov was exhausted in the championship rounds, throwing too many single shots. If he had stood in front of Igbokwe and focused on combination punches, he would have knocked him out. Madrimov isn’t a combination puncher, though. He throws exclusively single looping shots, so tonight’s fight was more challenging than it should have been for him.
- Super featherweight prospect Marc Castro (10-0, 7 KOs) stopped journeyman Ricardo Lopez (16-7-3, 11 KOs) in the seventh round of a scheduled eight round bout. Castro, 23, hurt Lopez in the seventh round, resulting in the referee Mark Calo oy stepping in and halting the fight at 2:22.
- Unbeaten light heavyweight Khalil Coe (5-0-1, 3 KOs) stopped Jimmy Quiter (6-2-1, 6 KOs) in the third round. Coe dropped Quiter in the first and third rounds with hard right hands to the head. Quiter was badly hurt after the second knocking. The fight was halted by referee Rafael Ramos at 1:51 of round three.
- Bantamweight Jose Lopez (4-2-2) and Jesus Martinez (3-0-1, 1 KOs) fought to a four-round draw. The scores were 39-37, 37-39, 38-38).