Delvin Rodriguez, a figher who has had his share of setbacks, turned another one into a positive Friday night in Uncasville, Conn.

Rodriguez complained after the eighth round of his 12-round welterweight fight against Shamone Alvarez that he believed his hand was broken. So he used primarily his left, with more and more rights mixed in, to take over the fight and win a unanimous decision.

Rodriguez, who won by scores of 115-112, 114-113 and 114-113, jumps from No. 4 to No. 2 in the IBF’s rankings and moves into position to fight in a title eliminator.

Alvarez, an aggressive southpaw whose only loss going into the fight was to IBF belt holder Joshua Clottey, gave Rodriguez problems with his tenacity and quickness for much of a close fight but began to slow down in the eighth.

Then, after that round, Rodriguez (24-2-2, 14 knockouts) protected his right hand by peppering Alvarez (20-2, 11 KOs) with his long left and taking control. He put Alvarez down with a right in the 11th, which turned out to be the winning margin.

Rodriguez was coming off a controversial draw against Issac Hltashwayo in November. In July, he delivered the blows that put Oscar Diaz into a coma.