The look on a stunned Dennis Okoth’s face told viewers everything they needed to know about how hard Elvis Rodriguez hit him in the second round Tuesday night.
The powerful southpaw’s precise, straight left hand caught Okoth directly on his chin, dumped him flat on his back and made referee Tony Weeks immediately wave an end to their scheduled six-round welterweight bout in Las Vegas. The undefeated Dominican prospect knocked out Okoth at 2:33 of the second round at MGM Grand Conference Center.
Rodriguez’s impressive victory was broadcast by ESPN as part of the Oscar Valdez-Jayson Velez undercard.
The 24-year-old Rodriguez (8-0-1, 8 KOs) won a sixth straight bout since his technical draw with Joaquin Chavez in June 2019. Kenya’s Okoth slipped to 4-4-1 and lost a second straight bout by knockout.
A straight right by Okoth caught Rodriguez with about 40 seconds to go in the second round, as Rodriguez moved straight backward. Rodriguez responded by blasting Okoth with that devastating aforementioned punch.
Rodriguez landed a straight left with 48 seconds to go in the first round. Rodriguez was patient throughout that opening round and mostly stayed out of Okoth’s punching range.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
