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Former WBO bantamweight champion Emmanuel Rodriguez is still shocked that he came out on the losing end of a twelve round split decision, in Saturday’s fight with undefeated Filipino Reymart Gaballo.
Their showdown took place on Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
With the victory, Gaballo walked away with the vacant WBC interim-bantamweight title.
Rodriguez felt that he won the first seven rounds, then gave up the eight and ninth when his stamina declined, and then caught a second wind to win the last three.
“In the eight and ninth, I lost them. From then on, in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth, I regained a little life and he didn’t beat me anymore,” said Rodriguez to Carlos Rodriguez.
“It’s true that I could have been more offensive, but there was no need to be….[Gaballo] hits very hard. If I was winning, why would I risk that by making a mistake?
Gaballo entered the match undefeated in 23 fights and with 20 knockouts.
It was the second loss in a row for Rodriguez, who fell to 19-2. The first setback, in their previous fight, was a two-round knockout at the hands of big puncher Naoya Inoue.
Gaballo was certainly the aggressor in the contest. He was also reckless and many observers felt Rodriguez had outboxed him to a clear decision win.
John Orengo, manager of Rodriguez, intends to push for an immediate rematch within 120-days – and a request has been made with the World Boxing Council.
“We are going to wait for [the WBC] to review the fight between them and make a decision. I think it will happen, but we have to wait for the sanctioning body,” said Orengo.
The contest came together after Rodriguez’s initial opponent, Nonito Donaire, was diagnosed with COVID-19. Gaballo, who was scheduled to see action on the undercard, accepted the fight on late-notice.