Emmanuel Rodriguez is now targeting a unification fight with Alexandro Santiago following his win over Melvin Lopez to grab the IBF bantamweight title.
Rodriguez secured a unanimous-decision win in a largely one-sided affair that culminated in a grandstand finish. In the final round, Rodriguez dropped Lopez three times as he was against the ropes.
.@ERodriguezManny knocks Lopez down 3 times to close out the night of boxing 👊#RodriguezLopez #Showtime pic.twitter.com/Kle11riVcR
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) August 13, 2023
Although Lopez managed to beat the count and made it to the final bell, it did nothing to take away from the dominance that showed on the scorecards.
All the judges had it in favor of Rodriguez as follows: 120-105, 120-115 and 120-115.
In the post fight comments, Rodriguez made it clear that he wanted a fight with Santiago for the latter’s WBC belt which he picked up with a win over Nonito Donaire.
.@ERodriguezManny worked hard for this moment and won by UD 🏆#RodriguezLopez #Showtime pic.twitter.com/JVl1qw0Zzd
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) August 13, 2023
“We worked on being powerful and purposeful with our power punches, besides showing off our skills. I want Santiago next. He says that he doesn’t think anybody can beat him at 118 pounds, but I’m here to prove him wrong,” Rodriguez
Santiago will be no pushover, as the fighter has won his last 11 fights out of 12. The only defeat in that period came at the hands of Gary Antonio Russell.
But with the chance to unify the division, both fighters know everything is up for grabs.