Today (June 30), Beijing time, in a WBC super flyweight championship match that ended in Phoenix, USA, a scene of the replacement of the old and the new was performed, and finally the 24-year-old new generation champion Jesse Rodriguez destroyed the opponent by knockout in a confrontation with the veteran 34-year-old Juan Francisco Estrada, and won the most crucial victory of his career.
In the match, the two sides knocked each other down, and the confrontation was quite hot, and it is likely to be selected as the best boxing match of 2024.
01
In this matchup, Estrada is the reigning WBC superweight champion, but before that, Rodriguez also won the WBC superweight belt, but interestingly, Rodriguez lowered his weight to win the 112-pound flyweight title, this time to regain weight and fight again in the 118-pound flyweight division.
The downside to Estrada is that he's been away from the ring for a year and a half and his form is unknown. On the contrary, Rodriguez is in his prime and has been quite sharp in his previous games, so there is a lot of concern for Estrada. As it turned out, Estrada was not ideal in terms of form, but Rodriguez was more than expected in terms of strength and performance.
After the start of the match, the left-handed Rodriguez was very aggressive, but he was agile and steady, while Estrada was a little sluggish, and the first two rounds were more about finding rhythm and a little passive.
As the confrontation deepened, the two sides significantly increased the pace of attack, and the level of tension increased sharply. Estrada and Rodriguez are both eclectic fighters with both skill and strength, and in addition to attacking, they are both very good at countering. This battle, more like a counterattack VS counterattack competition, Rodriguez's toughness is unexpected, every time Estrada implements a counterattack, he can always be threatened by Rodriguez's counterattack, and Rodriguez's defense is quite good, playing at his own pace from beginning to end, which makes Estrada a little difficult.
02
In the third round, Rodriguez's loose offensive strategy finally showed its effect, and his forehand hook in the confrontation hit Estrada unsteadily, obviously taking a heavy hit, but Rodriguez was not in a hurry and sought to win steadily, such a fighter is undoubtedly quite scary.
Estrada appeared a little impatient due to repeated setbacks, and he constantly carried out counter-attacks, but unfortunately repeatedly missed, which was not a good sign.
In the fourth round, Rodriguez, who was getting better, knocked out his opponent with a series of heavy left hands with half a minute left on the round, which is quite rare in Estrada's career, which shows Rodriguez's power. However, Rodriguez has a calmness that is rare in young people, and even when he has an absolute advantage, he still does not rush forward and does not give his opponent any chance.
In the fifth round, Rodriguez continued to dominate and hit multiple heavy punches, but you can never underestimate the veteran lion-like ambition, and early in the sixth round, Estrada miraculously landed a right hand that knocked Rodriguez down again, causing the situation to change in the circle.
Unfortunately, Estrada is old after all, and Rodriguez is no ordinary master, in the rest of the 6th round, Rodriguez regained the lead, and the heavy punches still hit repeatedly, although Estrada knocked out his opponent once, but the author scored 9-8 in this round, and Rodriguez only fell slightly behind.
03
In the 7th round, Estrada had a desperate momentum, and the opponent launched a fierce competition, trying to save the situation, but Rodriguez did not show weakness, still firmly controlled the situation, the two sides continued to attack on the field, the scene was dangerous, just when the fans thought that this round would end, Rodriguez in the inside melee hit an uppercut in the last 1 second, hitting the opponent's right liver area, this part is quite fragile, Estrada collapsed directly to the ground after the injury, rolled in pain, and the referee number 8 did not stand up, Rodriguez broke new ground with a big win in the form of a liver-blasting knockout.
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After this fight, Rodriguez's record was rewritten to 20 fights and 13 knockouts, and Estrada's record was rewritten to 44-4 and 28 knockouts. The defeat to Rodriguez was the first time Estrada suffered a stop loss in his career, but it should be convincing, after all, there should be no excuse for losing to a more well-rounded fighter. Of course, if both sides are at their peak, what will be the result? Nobody knows! In any case, Rodriguez has completed this battle between the old and the new, and given his age, there will be even more breakthroughs in the future, and good luck to Rodriguez.