By Ian S Palmer
Viktor Postol of Ukraine takes on heavy-hitting southpaw Elvis Rodriguez of the Dominican Republic in a 10-round junior welterweight bout in Las Vegas this Saturday, July 15th. The fight can be seen live on Showtime in America. Postol last fought in February, 2022 when he was stopped in the 10th and final round by Gary Antuanne Russell while Rodriguez beat Joseph Adorno by 10-round majority decision this February in his last outing after dropping him twice.
Postol is a former WBC Junior Welterweight Champion who’s now 39 years old and has a record of 31-4 with 12 Ko’s. His first defeat came in a title unification bout with Terence Crawford in July, 2016 when he dropped a unanimous decision. Postol had beaten Lucas Matthysse of Argentina for the vacant WBC title by a 10th-round stoppage in October, 2015. Postol is regarded as a fine boxer who throws his punches in bunches. He’s fought mainly in Ukraine and took a huge step up in class when he beat Matthysse.
His second defeat came at the hands of Josh Taylor in 2018 by unanimous decision in a shot at Taylor’s WBC Silver Super Lightweight Title. He had a shot at the WBO and WBC Lightweight Titles in 2020 but was beaten by majority decision by then-champion Juan Ramirez. His loss to Russell in his last fight means Postol has now lost two in a row. Postol originally made a name for himself in the U.S. back in 2014 when he beat Selcuk Aydin by outboxing him all night long and then stopping him in the 11th round.
It was the first time Aydin never made it the distance in 28 contests. Postol proved that stoppage wasn’t a flash in the pan though with his stoppage of Matthysse, but then ran into one of the best when he met Crawford. Postol’s power could be underrated as his current knockout ratio is just 34.3 per cent, but he has a relatively heavy punch. He stands 5-feet-11-inches tall with a 71-inch reach. He enjoyed an excellent amateur career with more than 300 bouts and is as technically as sound as they come. He possesses better-than-average defensive qualities and is quite mobile in the ring. Postol has boxed 286 rounds since turning pro in 2007and has also beaten Hank Lundy, DeMarcus Corley and Yvan Mendy.
The 27-year-old Rodriguez owns a fine record of 14-1-1 with 12 wins coming by way of stoppage for a current knockout ratio of 75 per cent. He has just 67 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2018. Before that he enjoyed a fine amateur career as he made it to the final of the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games where he was beaten by Andy Cruz and also lost to Cruz in the quarterfinals of the 2017 AIBA World Championships and the 2017 Pan American Championship Final. He also competed in the World Series of Boxing in 2017.
Rodriguez stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a wingspan of 71 inches which means he’s an inch shorter than Postol with the same reach. His lone pro defeat came at the hands of Kenneth Sims Jr by eight-round majority decision in 2021 for the vacant WBC USA Super Lightweight Title and his lone draw was a one-round technical draw against Joaquin Chavez in 2019 when Chavez was cut from an accidental headbutt and couldn’t continue. Rodriguez’s biggest Luis Alberto Veron, Juan Pablo Romero,Juan Velasco and Joseph Adorno.
Postol is a polished and experienced boxer who went the distance with Terence Crawford and stopped Lucas Matthysse but is now 39 years old and has lost his last two fights. He’s also been out of the ring for 16 months. He’s been stopped just once and is a crafty veteran but is facing a boxer who has 12 stoppages in his 14 wins. Rodriguez hasn’t really lived up to expectations as of yet and he will have his hands full with Postol but should come out of the fight with a win as long as he works hard enough for it.
