OPENING SHOT
CLOSER TO THE MONSTER: Jesse Rodriguez took a bold step toward an anticipated superfight with Naoya Inoue with a sixth- round KO of bantamweight beltholder Antonio Vargas on June 13 in Glendale, Arizona. Rodriguez’s latest victory, which made him a three-division titleholder, didn’t come easy. Vargas stood his ground in the early rounds, piercing Rodriguez’s high guard with multi-punch combinations. However, “Bam” remained calm in the pocket, using his vaunted pivots and angles to set up harder, cleaner shots. He turned the tide in Round 5, dropping Vargas with a left cross, before ending their shootout with another (shorter) left in the sixth. Rodriguez is expected to fight again at 118 pounds before the end of the year, while Inoue’s promoter teased on Yahoo! Japan of a “big fight … already in motion” for February.
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Photo by Danielle Cortez
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