Rodriguez had a few good performances against Benton and Briscoe but lost against Benvenuti by ko. That is how I see this fight going with Golovkin stopping Rodriguez late. Thoughts?
First of all, there was nothing wrong with Rodriguez' chin. Nino was his 104th fight and he just got caught. It happens to the best. In those previous 103 or so fights he was only stopped once before on a 15th round TKO because of a cut. This man was solid. There would be no GGG KO. GGG fights a type of methodical breaking down of a fighter and he does it exceptionally well. However, Rodriguez was a speed-demon with abnormally long arms, an intense jab and skills that would make anyone that GGG fought feel ashamed at what they call skill. This man sped past bangers like Bennie Briscoe and Hurricane Carter while being outsized at the weight. If anyone is simply waiting for GGG to drop the bomb that would take out Rodriguez, one would be waiting a long time. I see a comfortable points win for Rodriguez here.
If GGG had fought Erislandy Lara and beat him ...I would feel a lot more confident in his chances here ....but since he showed no interest in that fight ...I believe Rodriguez could outbox him ( call it a hunch )
I would pick Golovkin to out-monster him down the stretch. Hard to keep a man of you that is bigger, stronger, with such a good jab. He's got the range, the physicality and he's right there with that one key punch.
