Emmanuel Rodriguez earns a UD victory with a nearly closed right eye (Video)

In a fight that was supposed to be competitive for the vacant IBF bantamweight title, Emmanuel Rodriguez (22-2, 13 KOs) dominated for 12 rounds, earning a unanimous decision victory over Melvin Lopez (29-2, 19 KOs). All three judges saw the fight the same as they scored it 120-105. Rodriguez did all this while his right eye was nearly shut from the fourth round until the end. Rodriguez claims it was a headbutt, but the referee missed it if that was true.

It was an interesting first round as Rodriguez was landing the overhand left to the southpaw Lopez, which was clearly affecting him. Then, in other moments, Lopez landed some hard body shots and a right jab that would stop Rodriguez in his tracks. In the second round, Rodriguez began to increase the pressure and was changing the levels of his punches with 1-2 combinations to the head but then landed straight shots to the chest. Lopez was having trouble making the adjustments.

Emmanuel Rodriguez was able to score a unanimous decision with his right eye almost shut

Rodriguez had another good round in the third, but Lopez’s left hooks began to affect Rodriguez, and the swelling in his right eye was significant. In the fourth round, Rodriguez used his distance smartly and avoided those Lopez looping shots while creating offense of his own. Rodriguez continued to be the busier guy. Lopez felt that Rodriguez was tired in the fifth round, and he increased his offense. Rodriguez looked to land a combination at a time and wasn’t as active as the earlier rounds.

Rodriguez’s eye was swollen to a point where he started to have issues seeing Lopez’s left hooks coming in the sixth round. Rodriguez’s offense slowed down dramatically. Rodriguez turned up the offense in the seventh round and landed some huge straight right hands as his right eye swelled.

From the eighth round to the eleventh, Rodriguez was applying a ton of pressure, and Lopez had no answer. In the last round, Rodriguez scored three knockdowns as Lopez’s body gave out from all the punishment he took throughout the fight. To his credit, Lopez kept getting up and survived the last round. Rodriguez earned a brave unanimous decision victory as his eye was swollen shut.

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