BIRMINGHAM, England – Francisco Rodriguez is not content with simply being Galal Yafai’s opponent on Saturday at Birmingham’s BP pulse LIVE.
The traveling Mexican has fought some of the best fighters in the lighter weight divisions. Rodriguez, a former unified minimumweight champion, lost a decision to Japan’s Kazuto Ioka for the WBO flyweight title in 2021 and took Ioka’s hard-hitting compatriot Junto Nakatani the distance in 2022.
Victory on Saturday against the 32-year-old Yafai, for the WBC interim flyweight title, will guarantee a shot at another of the world’s leading fighters Kenshiro Teraji, the WBC champion. To do that Rodriguez, 39-6-1 (27 KOs), must travel to Yafai’s home city of Birmingham, England, and he believes that there is only one way to be certain of victory on away soil.
“My plan is to hurt him – I’m coming in with bad intentions,” the 32 year old told BoxingScene via a translator. “He has something that I very dearly want, and I think the only way to beat him is to win by knockout and to hurt him.
“I’ve noticed quite a few [weaknesses] to be honest. I think he is a fighter that comes forward very straight on; doesn't have great head movement; doesn’t have great waist movement; doesn’t do too much of that. That is extremely dangerous when you come against someone that can hit, hit a lot, and can hit hard.
“Yafai is the key to opening the door that gets me fights in the big leagues. Whoever wins the fight will go on to get that fight with Kenshiro Teraji.”