By Ian S Palmer
The vacant WBC Super Flyweight Championship is on the line in Phoenix, Arizona this Saturday, February 5th when former belt holder Carlos Cuadras of Mexico takes on unbeaten Jesse Rodriguez of San Antonio, Texas. The 12-round bout can be seen live in most areas of the world on DAZN. Cuadras was scheduled to meet Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in a rematch of their 2014 bout which he won by technical decision, but Rungvisai had to pull out due to illness and Rodriguez stepped in at less than a week’s notice. Cuadras last saw action in October, 2020 when he was stopped in the 11th round by Juan Francisco Estrada in a war for the WBC Title after dropping Estrada in the third round. Rodriguez last boxed in October when he stopped Jose Burgos in the fourth round. Rodriguez was already in training as he was supposed to face Fernando Diaz in a flyweight tilt on Saturday night.
The 33-year-old Cuadras is 39-4-1 with 27 Kos to his name. He stands 5-feet-4-inches tall and has a reach of 66 inches. He turned pro back in 2008 and has 250 rounds under his belt since then. Cuadras is a fine power puncher with a current knockout ratio of 61.4 per cent, but he hasn’t recorded a stoppage since 2016 when he halted Richie Mepranum in the eighth round.
His losses have been at the hands of Estrada (twice) as well as to Roman Gonzalez by unanimous decision in September, 2016 while he was the WBC Super Flyweight Champion. He was also beaten by McWilliams Arroyo by 10-round majority decision five months after losing to Estrada in 2017. Cuadras won the title in May, 2014 by technical decision over Rungvisai and defended it six times until losing to Gonzalez. Cuadras’ lone draw was a four-round technical affair with Jose Salgado in September 2014.
Cuadras has taken on some tough opponents over the years with his best wins coming against Rungvisai, David Carmona, Mepranum, Dixon Flores, Salgado, Ricardo Nunez, Luis Concepcion and Koki Eto. He’s been stopped once and on the canvas in the past, but still has a strong chin. Cuadras possesses good speed, experience, power and boxing skills and is a handful for anybody when he’s at his best.
Since turning pro, Cuadras has also won the WBC Continental Americas Super Flyweight, and Bantamweight Titles, the WBC Silver Super Flyweight Belt and the interim WBC Latino Bantamweight Crown. His four career losses have come in his last eight fights and it’s hard to say how much the wars have taken out of him over the past few years.
Rodriguez is just 22 years old and the southpaw enters the fight with a perfect mark of 14-0 with 10 Ko’s. He’s obviously got quite a bit of power in his arsenal with a current knockout ratio of 71.4 per cent. He’s 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 67-inch reach which puts him an inch taller than Cuadras with a minimal one-inch edge in reach.
Rodriguez is the brother of WBA Super Flyweight Champion Joshua Franco and has boxed 50 rounds since making his pro debut in 2017. He enjoyed a fine amateur career which saw him win the 2015 U.S. National Junior Under-17 Championship at 101 lbs, capture a silver medal at the 2015 World Junior Under-17 Championships at 101 lbs and win the 2016 U.S. National Junior Under-17 Championships at 106 lbs.
This will be a big step up in class for Rodriguez this weekend as he’s never faced a legitimate contender yet as a pro let alone a former world champion. His biggest wins as of now have been over Armando Vazquez, Rauf Aghayev, Cesar Torrijos, Marco Sustaita, Janiel Rivera and Saul Juarez. Rodriguez is on a roll right now with six straight knockouts.
Prediction…
It’s hard to predict how boxers will perform when their opponents have been changed but Cuadras was preparing to meet a southpaw anyway in Rungvisai and Rodriguez was training to meet a right-hander in Fernando Diaz. Cuadras has been in some classic battles and could have a lot taken out of him by now at the age of 33. His last outing was a brutal contest with Estrada and it could be one that’s hard to recover from. However, if he is still at his best he may have the edge over the Rodriguez, who’s 11 years younger. It’s a tough call but I think Rodriguez may not be quite ready to take on somebody of Cuadras’ level. I’ll go with the experienced Cuadras in a tossup.
