By Jake Donovan
Presented with the toughest test of his career to date, Saul Rodriguez barely batted an eyelash in stopping Ivan Najera in one round Friday evening at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
The bout served as the televised opener on truTV, as part of Top Rank's Metro PCS Friday Night Knockout series.
Some will argue that the bout was decided at Thursday's weigh-in, when Najera showed up at 134.6 lbs. - more than two pounds over the contracted limit. In opting to not attempt to lose any more weight, Najera was hit with a massive $10,000 fine out of his $30,000 purse.
Once the bell rang, he was hit in the face - repeatedly.
Rodriguez was determined to prove his superiority, not at all concerned with Najera being the much bigger boxer by fight night. Nor did he put any stock in the possibilty of his opponent being weakened after struggling all week to squeeze out the last few pounds from his lightweight frame.
"He didn't even try," Rodriguez told truTV's Crystina Poncher afterward of his opponent not making an effort to lose weight after showing up heavy. "I don't think it (was) a factor at all. He didn't even try."
Rodriguez certainly tried - to win, that is. Every punch was thrown with knockout intentions - fitting given the series' tagline - and he produced just that in the end. A left hook put Najera on the deck with just over a minute to go.
By the time he beat the eight count, Najera was also forced to contend with rapid swelling around his left eye. The bout quickly went south for him, as he was in no shape to continue.
This wasn't lost on his opponent, who opted to mix up his attack in closing the show.
"I knew he'd be looking for the left hook," said Rodriguez - a 22-year old prospect from California who is trained by Robert Garcia. "So I came back and finished him with the right hand."
A flurry of punches preceded the fight-ending right that put Najera back on the deck. Referee Kenny Bayless decided not another punch needed to be thrown, stopping the contest on the spot at 2:06 of round one.
Rodriguez improves to 19-0-1 (14KOs), doing so in needing nine less rounds than it took for Felix Verdejo - who was seated ringside - to score his own win over Najera. The unbeaten rising contender from Puerto Rico also scored knockdowns but was forced to settle for a landslide decision.
There was no settling on the part of Rodriguez, who picks up his quickest win since 2012, when he recorded the last of four consecutive 1st round knockouts to begin his career.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
