David Rodela is in the process of building himself into a legitimate title contender. On Thursday, he took another hard-earned step in that direction. The lanky junior lightweight from Oxnard, Calif., used his aggression and perseverance to defeat talented Gamalier Rodriguez by a unanimous six-round decision in a grueling effort for both fighters. Rodela (14-1-3, 6 knockouts) pushed the action from the outset but had trouble cleanly hitting his slick opponent from Puerto Rico, who waited to counter Rodela the entire fight. However, Rodela kept after Rodriguez (8-2-2, 4 KOs) and did more and more damage as the fight went on. The scores were 59-55, 59-55 and 58-56 in Rodela's favor. Neither fighter was hurt in the fight.