By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBC Super Flyweight Champion Jesse Rodriguez Franco of San Antonio, Texas will be defending the title for the second time this Saturday, September 17th when he takes on Israel Gonzalez of Mexico. The 12-rounder can be seen live in most nations on DAZN pay-per-view on the undercard of the Canelo Alvarez vs Gennadiy Golovkin bout. Rodriguez last fought in June when he stopped fellow southpaw and former world champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in the eighth round. He had won the vacant belt in February when he dropped former champ Carlos Cuadras in the third round on his way to a unanimous decision victory. Gonzalez last fought in April when he beat Misael Acevedo via an eight-round unanimous decision.
Rodriguez Franco is currently the youngest world boxing champion as he’s just 22 years old. He enters the fight with a perfect mark of 16-0 with 11 Ko’s and possesses quite a bit of power in his arsenal with a current knockout ratio of 68.8 per cent. He stands 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 67-inch reach and is the brother of WBA Super Flyweight Champion Joshua Franco. He made his pro debut in 2017 and has boxed 70 rounds since.
Rodriguez Franco 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. He stepped up in class against Carlos Cuadras earlier this year and passed the test with flying colours and was even more dominant in his win over Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.
Since turning pro and before meeting Cuadras, Rodriguez Franco’s biggest wins were over the likes of Armando Vazquez, Rauf Aghayev, Cesar Torrijos, Marco Sustaita, Janiel Rivera and Saul Juarez. He also had won six straight fights by knockout until Cuadras took him the distance. He seems to be the real deal with speed, skills, a solid chin and plenty of power.
The 25-year-old Gonzalez enters the contest with a mark of 28-4-1 with 11 Kos. He’s boxed 195 rounds since turning pro in 2014 and has a current knockout ratio of just 33.3 per cent and has gone the distance in his last six fights and in six of the past seven. He’s 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 69-inch reach which gives him a two-inch edge on the champion in both height and reach.
This is Gonzalez’s fourth shot at a world title as he was stopped in the 10th round by Jerwin Ancajas in 2018 in a crack at the IBF Super Flyweight Title. His other losses came against Agi Cortes via a six-round unanimous decision in 2016; to Khalid Yafai by unanimous decision in an attempt at the WBA Super Flyweight Crown nine months after losing to Ancajas and a unanimous decision to Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez for the WBA Super Flyweight Belt in 2020.
His biggest win has been against Sho Ishida in Japan in 2019 and his lone draw was a 10-round affair with Jose Martinez-Mercado in March, 2021 for the vacant WBO NABO Bantamweight Title. Gonzalez fell short against Ancajas, Yafai and Rodriguez but proved he can handle himself well enough for a young prospect. He doesn’t possess much in the way of power but has plenty of talent.
Prediction…
‘Bam’ Rodriguez Franco has proven to be a worthy champion with his wins over Cuadras and Rungvisai and should make it three straight wins in a row this year on Saturday night. Gonzalez just doesn’t have the power to keep the champion off of him and even though he may have the ability to take a few rounds on the scorecards I believe he’ll fall short once again in a world title shot.
