Jesse Rodriguez’s life has changed overnight.
The relatively unknown flyweight from San Antonio agreed a week ago to face respected former junior bantamweight champ Carlos Cuadras on Saturday at Footprint Center in Phoenix after Srisaket Sor Rungvisai pulled out because of illness.
Impossible task? Evidently not.
Rodriguez, only 22, put his Mexican foe down and outboxed him to win a wide decision and a secondary WBC 115-pound title in a stunning upset. Juan Francisco Estrada is the top WBC beltholder.
Cuadras (39-5-1, 27 KOs) got off to a strong start but he went down from a right uppercut in Round 3, after which the underdog took over. Rodriguez was too quick and too slick for the 33-year-old from Mexico City.
The scores were 117-110 (nine rounds to three), 117-110 and 115-112.
Cuadras has now lost consecutive fights, having been stopped by Estrada in the 11th round of what had been a war in October 2020. He appears to be out of the title picture in a deep division for the moment.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez (15-0, 10 KOs) is in the thick of it even though he wasn’t even an afterthought a week ago.
