It took Jesse Rodriguez (17-0) the full scheduled twelve rounds, but he has become a two-weight world champion by capturing the WBO world flyweight world title against Cristian Gonzalez (15-1). The contest held in San Antonio, Texas, was promoted by Matchroom Boxing. Rodriguez claimed a dominant unanimous decision with scorecards reading 118-110, 117-111 & 116-112. In round six, Rodriguez sustained a broken jaw and will now be set for a spell on the sidelines. Despite Rodriguez’s injury, Promoter Eddie Hearn is still aiming to secure a unification with Sunny Edwards for Rodriguez later in the year. Rodriguez himself, in his post-fight interview with DAZN confirmed that he has no other option than Edwards. Edwards is the current holder of the IBF world flyweight title. Rodriguez, with his victory, now adds the WBO world flyweight title alongside his WBC world super-flyweight title, which he claimed in 2022.
In the opening round, Rodriguez’s superior skill set as the southpaw pumped his jab and threw straight left hands to keep Gonzalez on the move. This pattern would continue into the second round as Rodriguez kept his punches straight and narrow. Gonzalez was very reactive to the attacks of Rodriguez and would use his feet to get out of harm's way.
The third round saw Gonzalez remain on the outside with Rodriguez continuing to cut off the ring. Gonzalez would complain to the referee for a low blow, which eventually stopped proceedings. The restart would see Rodriguez land an overhand left onto Gonzalez, which forced Gonzalez to take a step backwards.
Gonzalez was forced to stand his ground and throw with Rodriguez in the fourth simply due to Gonzalez having nowhere else to go. Rodriguez would begin to land to the body with a number of hooks before a trio of left hooks to the head of Gonzalez.
The following round (five) was an identical pattern to the previous round. Six, however, would see Gonzalez a number of counter right hands, one of which caused damage to the jaw of Rodriguez. Rodriguez was still focused on landing combinations due to the movement of Gonzalez in an attempt to slow down the Mexican due to his reluctance to hold plant his feet.
The seventh would see Rodriguez as effective though if not as active, as the fight crept into the second half. Gonzalez was able to stick and move, which allowed him to lessen the inflicted damage from Rodriguez’s clean power shots. For the lack of his ability to land anything of note on Rodriguez, Gonzalez was certainly brave in attempting to do so.
Eight would see Rodriguez looking to find an angle to attack Gonzalez as Rodriguez was utilising his jab more but still working in combinations as Gonzales remained keen to stay away from the ropes.
The remaining rounds continued in this pattern. Gonzalez should be praised for his bravery, if not his lack of ambition and ability to trouble or deter Rodriguez in any way despite a broken jaw. Round ten would see Gonzalez circle to Rodriguez’s left, and he briefly mixed it up and landed a left to the body. This generated an automatic response from Rodriguez, who rocked Gonzalez with a jab-hook combination.
The eleventh saw Rodriguez up his work rate, following a more moderate pace in the tenth. Rodriguez ultimately got on the inside and targeted the head and body with flurries and combinations, which saw Gonzalez continue to manoeuvre his way out of trouble. Gonzalez could and should have arguably scored a knockdown following a right hand in which Rodriguez’s glove brushed the canvas. However, the referee, Mark Calo-oy, ruled this a slip.
The final round saw Rodriguez and Gonzalez exchanging hooks moments after Rodriguez trapped Gonzalez into a corner aiming to force a stoppage. However, Gonzalez survived and lasted the full twelve-round distance.
Following the contest, Jesse Rodriguez improved his record to 18-0, while Cristian Gonzalez drops to 15-2.
