David Carmona Edges Ricardo Rodriguez In Rematch
Oct 17, 2015 • 12:30 PM ET
By Jake Donovan
David Carmona scored a repeat win over Ricardo Rodriguez in their 10-round sequel Friday evening in Mexico City.
Scores were 97-92 (twice) Carmona and 96-93 Rodriguez in their Telemundo-televised main event.
The pair of super flyweight rivals went at it for 10 hard rounds, in a fight that was surprisingly more competitive than their first clash last summer. A 6th round knockdown for Carmona seemed to provide the cushion he needed to seal the victory, but Rodriguez never stopped coming forward, always remaining of the belief that he could rally to conquer his countryman.
He certainly sold it well, at least in the eyes of one judge who somehow had him winning seven rounds. Cooler heads prevailed, as Carmona won big on the other two scorecards to extend his unbeaten streak to five straight.
The run began with a win over Rodriguez (12-3, 4KOs) at the start of the Telemundo Super Flyweight tournament last summer. Carmona (20-2-5, 8KOs) went on to win the tournament, scoring a 10-round decision over Daniel Lozano (who headlines next Friday's edition of
Boxeo Telemundo
) in the finals this past March.
Carmona parlayed the win into a second world title shot, having previously fallen well short in a knockout loss to then-long reigning super flyweight champ Omar Narvaez in 2013. Narvaez was violently dethroned last December by Naoya Inoue, who has been out of the ring for all of 2015 thus far due to injury.
Inoue's status paved the way for an interim title to become available. Carmona was first in line for a shot at the secondary belt, but was surprisingly held to a 12-round draw versus Warlito Parrenas in July.
Parrenas will now face Inoue in his long awaited ring return later this year, while Carmona was content with resolving unfinished business with Rodriguez. He will now get the winner of Inoue-Parrenas at some point in 2016.
Rodriguez snaps a three-fight win streak with Friday's setback, with all three victories having taken place in Central Florida.
Also on the telecast, Hugo Guarneros took a six-round decision over a brave Victor Franco in a surprisingly close battle. Scores were 58-56 (twice) and 58-57 in favor of Guarneros (8-1-1, 6KOs), whose lone loss came in his pro debut. Franco (2-3, 0KOs) has now dropped three straight.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home.
