By Francisco Salazar
Francisco Rodriguez, Jr. continues his success as a junior bantamweight, knocking out Hernan 'Tyson' Marquez in round three late Saturday night at the Centro de Convenciones in Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Marquez, a former world flyweight titleholder, came to fight, but his downfall was to stand in the pocket with Rodriguez, a former strawweight world titleholder.
About 30 seconds into round three, a short left cross to the head dropped Marquez to the canvas. Marquez was not visibly hurt when he stood up and fought back.
The rally would be short-lived as Rodriguez connected with a counter left cross to the head, dropping Marquez flat onto his back. Referee Florentino Lopez began administering a 10-count, but waved it off at 2:10.
Rodriguez (29-4-1, 21 KOs), who resides in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, has enjoyed a rebirth in his career after dropping back-to-back fights to then-junior flyweights Donnie Nietes and Moises Fuentes in 2015. Despite having won his last 10 bouts, Rodriguez is ranked number 13 by the WBC.
Marquez resides in Empalme, Sonora and drops to 43-10-2, 30 KOs.
Junior welterweight prospect and 2016 Olympian Lindolfo Delgado improved to 7-0, 7 KOs by knocking out Luis Humberto Moreno in the sixth and final round.
Saturday night marked the fifth fight of 2018 for Delgado.
Moreno falls to 2-1.
Featherweight Mariana Mercado Ruiz defeated Reyna Pablo (0-1-1) by unanimous decision over four rounds. Scores were 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37 for Mercado Ruiz, who improves to 3-0.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.
