Moises Fuentes vs. Francisco Rodríguez, Jr.

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Not to brag or anything, but a friend on here asked me on Friday if Fuentes really ought to have been an 11/10 underdog.

:deal

 

Anybody else sensing a Fernando Vargas type of arc from the career of Chihuas thus far? He was pushed very fast early on, tossed in with gritty upset artist Chango Vargas (who gave a young Chocolatito hell) in just his dozenth fight, in a big step up, and only a few bouts removed from his first loss to a 9-4-1 Salvador Arias. That itself was a bold move by Rodríguez's handlers. Granted, he did stop Chango, and that was very impressive (especially given that he never fought anyone meaningful before that and had already picked up a loss despite that) - but to chuck him in with a priming Chocolatito himself just a few months later? Wow. Talk about fast-tracking. After that it has been pretty much an equal mix of journeymen in tuneups (Calleros, Guerrero, Fajardo I & II) and world class opponents (Sabillo, Takayama, Nietes, Fuentes) - with pretty much no middle ground. All deep end or shallow.

I can't help but wonder if his time in the world title picture, be it at flyweight or super or light fly (given his wild inconsistency making weight, failing to meet the limit twice in his last four bouts in two separate divisions), has drawn to a close. :think

To my eyes, Fuentes was the clear victor last night (though I've just watched it without scoring it fully on a RBR basis) and Kermitt Bayless - a judge with precious little world title bout experience, having only done Tim Bradley vs. Jessie Vargas before this - had a screw loose and got it very wrong. Ironically, the one Mexican judge had Rodríguez the clear loser at home.

 

Actually, sorry, they weren't in either guy's home state.

Tecate, Baja California is a long drive from both Monterrey, Nuevo León and Mexico City in Distrito Federal. (20 and 30 hours respectively!)

Rodríguez does live closer, relatively, but I wouldn't call it hometown advantage.

 

Agreed. :good

...and since making light fly is very dubious at this point, I'd wager that he is on his way to going down as having been a bright yet quickly burnt-out flame, much like El Feroz.

In both cases I blame how fast they were moved.

 

It was a fun romp but not quite as incendiary as some of the FOTY candidates from the first eleven months of 2015. I'd say top 15 of the year so far...but we still have a lot of sleepers left before NYE so the conversation isn't over and there's definitely room for a late entry to claim top honors. (this just wasn't quite good enough to be one)

We still have Usyk vs. Rodriguez (actually something of a step up for The Cat. The Pinwheel is a big strong guy, trained by Osmiri “Moro Jr.” Fernandez, head coach of Yoandris Salinas and Richar Abril, with his lone defeat coming up at heavyweight at the hands of Abdusalamov while Rodriguez was blubbered up to about 50lb heavier than he is now. Far more effective down @ Cruiser...), Mitchell vs. Barroso, Joshua vs. Whyte, Eubank Jr. vs. O'Sullivan, Barrera vs. Murat, Breazeale vs. Martin, Omori vs. Tapales, Vitu vs. Santos, Concepción vs. Segura, Shafikov vs. Barthelemy, Thomas vs. Gassiev, Skoglund vs. Edwards, Lee vs. Saunders, Ortiz vs. Jennings, Clottey vs. Rosado, Gonzalez vs. Shabranskyy, Inoue vs. Parrenas, Mendoza vs. Yaegashi, Uchiyama vs. Flores, Taguchi vs. De la Rosa, and Ioka vs. Reveco II.

 

My only real disagreement is with Joshua vs. Whyte, their amateur encounter means very little to me and Whyte hasn't looked anywhere near as impressive a pro.

 

atsch OMG, and how could I forget - Jones vs. Maccarinelli!!!! That could be just knockdowns traded nonstop until it ends.

 

Possibly several of them, yeah.