Rodriguez burst out of the blocks, rattling the champion early and buckling Yafai’s legs with a pointy left uppercut. Yafai struggled to totally get better as Rodriguez’s fast palms continued to seek out the mark via the early phases.
Yafai rallied within the fourth, touchdown clear together with his backhand, however was hampered by blood pouring from a minimize above his left eye. Rodriguez additionally suffered a minimize later within the struggle.
The Birmingham fighter – who cruised previous Sunny Edwards in November – regarded second-best all through, his physique language providing little encouragement to the house crowd. He incessantly dabbed on the eye and located it troublesome to match Rodriguez’s tempo.
Rodriguez had his fired-up nook roaring within the seventh when Yafai was floored, though it was dominated a slip. The injury, nonetheless, had already been performed earlier within the spherical, with the 31-year-old away fighter touchdown a flurry of punches.
A crisp straight proper and uppercut linked within the eighth, with Yafai exhibiting coronary heart and toughness to remain within the struggle. Each males had been inspected by medical doctors earlier than the ninth resulting from cuts, nevertheless it was Rodriguez who continued to dominate, hurting Yafai once more as blood stained the referee’s shirt.
By the championship rounds, Yafai regarded more and more resigned to his destiny. A clear left-right mixture dropped him within the twelfth. He rose with a wry, deflated smile earlier than moments later leaving the ring with out giving a post-fight interview.
A world title shot towards Japan’s unified champion Kenshiro Teraji had appeared inside touching distance however as an alternative Yafai’s dream of turning into an Olympic and world champion is paused for now.
“He failed on the hurdle to elite degree and that is generally what occurs. He’d solely had 9 fights,” Hearn added.
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