JESSE ‘Bam’ Rodriguez showed that he was a level above Phumelela Cafu, outworking his rival, adding the WBO belt to his own WBC super-flyweight crown in the process. Rodriguez was on point from the opening bell, forcing an eventual finish in the 10th round as the corner, in league with referee Hector Afu, stopped Cafu at 2-07.
A clash with Argentina’s Fernando Martinez, who has established himself as the other top talent at 115 pounds, is already pencilled in for November. That caused no distraction for Rodriguez in Frisco, Texas, last night.
‘Bam’ buzzed into the ring with his typical brand of enthusiasm, taking little time pushing the taller man to the ropes, giving him constant angles to deal with.
Cafu had a reputation for a dig, but landing it on the diminutive buzzsaw was a different matter. “I like those body shots,” trainer Robert Garcia told his man between rounds two and three. Cafu wasn’t too keen on them, although he tried to tag a few body shots of his own in the third, along with the uppercut.
To his credit, Cafu was trying to whip in return fire with both hands. Rodriguez, 25, was tanking the body repeatedly. “They’re competitive rounds, but Rodriguez is winning them,” the DAZN crew remarked as Cafu landed a scraping left hook. Just enough to keep him in it, without winning much of anything.
That said, he may have won the sixth as Cafu’s left hand went upstairs and down, followed by a right hand. Cafu was flagging a little in the eighth. Bad news for the 26-year-old who was rocked with a fierce flurry in round nine as the end started to appear on the horizon.
A flashing right hook hurt Cafu, who wobbled towards a referee on the verge of a stoppage. Cafu somehow managed to cling on, forcing a fall to the canvas. It was a momentary respite as Rodriguez went in for more, only to be foiled by Cafu’s corner, who waved the towel to end it.
“All credit to Cafu, he was tougher than I thought he would be. I knew he had power, but not like that – and he could take a shot,” said Rodriguez, improving his unblemished record to 22-0 (15 KOs) while Cafu dipped to 11-1-3 (8 KOs).
