Emmanuel Rodriguez Drops Gary Antonio Russell En Route To Technical Decision

Emmanuel Rodriguez handed Gary Antonio Russell the first loss of his career.

Rodriguez (21-2, 13 KOs) bested the previously undefeated Russell (19-1, 12 KOs) with a ten-round technical decision. The scores were 100-90, 99-91 and 99-93.

Rodriguez’s win settles their first fight in August where it ended in a no-contest after a clash of heads in the first round that opened a cut on Rodriguez, forcing him to withdraw.

Rodriguez set the tone from the start. He sent Russell stumbling backwards in the closing moments in the round.

In the next rounds, Rodriguez would counter Russell well, making him struggle.

In the fourth round, Rodriguez landed a big counter that shook his opponent’s legs.

Russell was looking for change in the fifth round as he fired his punches. But Rodriguez continued to box well and out landed Russell in the sixth and seventh round.

Then another clash of heads happened in the ninth round, again making a cut open on Rodriguez – this time under his left eye.

The two returned to their corners, but in the opening of the tenth round, the fight was stopped due to Rodriguez’s injury.