In the co-feature, top super lightweight contender Elvis Rodriguez continued his rapid ascent with an impressive seventh-round TKO of former champion Viktor Postol, who was stopped on his feet for the second straight fight at this venue.
Rodriguez, who has notched four straight wins since dropping a majority decision to Kenneth Sims in 2021, floored Postol with a right hook in the final seconds of the sixth round and hurt Postol again with another right hook in the seventh round as referee Celestino Ruiz stopped the bout at 23 seconds of the frame as Postol stumbled into the ropes after absorbing a barrage of punches. Rodriguez led 59-54 on all three judges’ scorecards.
The Freddie Roach-trained Rodriguez improved to 15-1-1 with 13 knockouts, while Postol fell to 31-5 (12 KOs) and has now lost three straight in his storied career. Postol was taken to the hospital for observation following the bout and wasn’t available for comment.
“For every fight we always have a plan,” Rodriguez said. “Today, maybe it helped a little bit that Freddie trained Postol, but it's always a plan for a different fighter. This all started in the fifth round. When I hit him, I thought I fractured his nose, then I gave him a nice look in the fifth. So, in the sixth, I was going for the kill. I felt I had him from the beginning in the seventh round. I gave him a hook and I saw that he was in trouble. And then the referee stopped the fight. So we knew we had won. I'm ready. I'm ready for a world title. I've worked too hard so far. Thank you.”
An interesting subplot of the match was the presence of famed-trainer Freddie Roach, who was in Rodriguez’s corner on Saturday and had also recently trained and guided Postol. Their familiarity extended to Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Gym in Los Angeles with the two frequently sparring. The experience favored Rodriguez as he hurt Postol with a jab-right combination midway through the third round that had Postol retreating for the remainder of the round.
Rodriguez landed a right hook to the top of Postol’s head with approximately 20 seconds left in the third as Rodriguez began sitting down on his punches and opening up. Rodriguez hurt Postol with a left-right combo to the body with 20 seconds left in the fifth that nearly doubled Postol over and had him dancing away to end the round. Rodriguez caught Postol with a right uppercut to start the sixth and later stunned Postol with a hard right jab as Postol’s left eye began to close and Postol’s nose and mouth filled with blood before the bout was stopped.
Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions