Jesse “BAM” Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs) dethroned WBC super flyweight champion Juan Francisco “Garo” Estrada (44-4, 28 KOs) with a dramatic seventh-round knockout on Saturday night at the Footprint Center in Glendale, Arizona. It was a great fight. BAM took Estrada down with a straight left in the fourth round. After that round, Estrada went to Rodriguez's corner. BAM rocked Estrada again in the fifth round. Estrada took BAM down with a right hand in the sixth round. BAM took Estrada down with a liver shot in the seventh round to end the bout. The bout lasted three minutes. There was a rematch clause, which Estrada said he intends to exercise.
In a flyweight showdown between two former world champions, Sonny Edwards (21-1, 4 KOs) out-maneuvered Adrian Curiel (24-6-1, 5 KOs) to win by ninth-round technical decision. Curiel was aggressive but was largely kept in check by the mobile Edwards, who sustained a severe cut after a heavy hit to the head in the sixth round. The bout was stopped early in the ninth round. Scores were 90-82, 88-84, 87-85.
WBC women’s super bantamweight champion Yamilez Mercado (24-3, 5 KOs) defeated Ramla Ali (9-2, 2 KOs) by 10-round scores of 98-92, 98-93 and 97-93.
In a matchup between two unbeaten super bantamweights, Arturo Cardenas (15-0-1, 8 KOs) defeated Danny Barrios (15-2, 5 KOs) via 10-round majority decision by scores of 95-95, 97-93, and 96-94.
Unbeaten bantamweight Gabriel Murata (12-0, 6 KOs) defeated Carlos Fontes (23-4-1, 19 KOs) via eight-round unanimous decision by scores of 79-73, 78-74, and 77-75.
