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Jonathan Gonzalez outpoints Ricardo Rodriguez over 10

Jonathan Gonzalez
Fighters Network
24
Feb

Flyweight Jonathan Gonzalez fended off a late rally by Ricardo Rodriguez to win a 10-round split decision Friday night at the Osceola Heritage Center in Kissimmee, Florida.

The southpaw Gonzalez (20-2-1, 12 knockouts), who resides in Caguas, Puerto Rico, dropped his opponent in Round 3 and was on the ascendency. However, the taller Rodriguez got himself on track in the middle sessions and scored with a series of sharp right hands.

Sensing he was behind, Rodriguez continue to press the action in the final three rounds. On more than once occasion, the Mexican technician would stun his man with a lead or counter right hand, but Gonzalez was able to recover and fight back.

One judge scored the bout 95-94 in favor of Rodriguez, while the other two judges scored the bout 96-93 and 95-94 for Gonzalez.



Rodriguez (16-6, 5 KOs), who challenged and lost to WBO junior bantamweight titleholder Naoya Inoue in May has now lost three fights in succession.

Two unbeaten prospects, who have promotional deals with Top Rank, also notched decision victories.

In junior featherweight action, 2016 U.S. Olympian Antonio Vargas (6-0, 2 KOs) won a six-round unanimous decision over Luis Fernando Saavedra (7-5, 3 KOs) of Mexico.

Bantamweight Jeyvier Cintron (3-0, 1 KO), who represented Puerto Rico at last year’s Olympic Games in Rio, outboxed Edson Neri (2-2, 1 KO) to win a unanimous decision over six rounds.

Friday’s card kicked off the 2018 series on Telemundo.


Francisco A. Salazar can be reached by email at [email protected] and on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing

 

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