Junior welterweight contender Elvis ‘The Dominican Kid’ Rodriguez 14-1-1 (12) shook off the ring rust to win a majority decision over Joseph ‘Blessed Hands’ Adorno 17-2-2 (14) over 10 rounds at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday night.
The 27-year-old southpaw, who was having his first fight in almost a year, took a few rounds to get going but eventually got into his rhythm by the mid rounds and dropped Adorno twice in the back half of the bout.
“Ring rust was definitely a factor,” said Rodriguez, who fought on the undercard of the vacant IBF 140-pound title fight between Subriel Matias 19-1 (19) and Jeremias Ponce 30-1 (20). “Maybe the struggle was more mental than physical in a way, but the important thing is that I overcame it.”
Adorno, 23, showed good punch selection in the early going, demonstrating a good skillset to offset Rodriguez’s left-handed stance. Both boxers had success in the sixth landing flush power shots, but the fight turned in Rodriguez’s favour when he dropped Adorno for the first time in his career in the seventh.
With the momentum going his way Rodriguez kept up the pressure for the rest of the bout, catching Adorno with a cuffing shot at the same time as he slipped to the canvas. Referee Jon Schorle ruled a second knockdown and when the judges’ scorecards were tallied, Rodriguez was declared the winner 97-91, 95-93 and 94-94.
“I thought I had him once I landed that right hook, but he got up,” said Rodriguez. “He’s a warrior and a good fighter… The seventh round was huge, that’s when I truly started to win this fight. I have to give credit to Adorno for being savvy and knowing how to keep his distance before then.”
Adorno, who was having his fifth fight in less than a year, was adamant he did enough to win.
“I thought the judges were blind,” said Adorno. “I can’t get a win with these judges. I don’t know how you see the fight 97-91. I thought I won every round except the ones he dropped me.
“He never out worked me at all. I had the jab in his face and was snapping him to the body. He couldn’t do anything. No way he won seven rounds. I thought 94-94 was okay because of the two knockdowns.”
According to CompuBox, Rodriguez landed 38 punches to 36 for Adorno through six rounds. In the seventh round, Rodriguez doubled the number of Adorno’s connects with 24 punches. In the final four rounds Rodriguez outlanded Adorno 52 to 33.
Rodriguez now has his sights set on the Matias, who stopped Ponce in five frames in the main event.
“Like I said yesterday at the weigh-in, bring on the winner of [Matias vs Ponce],” said Rodriguez. “And to my people in the Dominican Republic, just know that I’ll be back even bolder and even better next time.”
