Emmanuel Rodriguez dominated Jason Moloney through the first eight rounds Saturday night, looking every bit the superior boxer as he landed clean punches at will and carved up his opponent in a surgical clinic.
Although Moloney ate punches through much of those 24 minutes, he kept coming, refusing to let his motor idle. The headstrong effort paid off for the game Australian. After landing a devastating right hand in the ninth round, Rodriguez began running out of gas and Moloney took the final three rounds.
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Despite things getting wildly interesting late, Rodriguez did enough to have his hand raised via split decision (113-115, 115-113, 115-113) in the quarterfinals of the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight tournament at CFE Arena in Orlando, Fla.
After the victory, Rodriguez was congratulated in the ring by Naoya Inoue. The Japanese bantamweight sensation said he was pulling for Rodriguez to win Saturday night, and his wish was granted. They’ll now fight in the WBSS semifinals at a date to be determined.
A mouth-watering #WBSS2 🏆 Bantamweight Semi-Final awaits 🔥
— World Boxing Super Series (@WBSuperSeries) October 21, 2018
A unification bout between two undefeated champions 🇯🇵 @naoyainoue_410 🆚 @ERodriguezManny 🇵🇷#InoueRodriguez #DorticosMasternak #AliTrophy pic.twitter.com/Gg0KhCKjHb
Improving his conditioning may be something Rodriguez will look to do as he prepares for Inoue. Other than that, the IBF bantamweight champ looked razor sharp in picking his spots and landing punches with high efficiency against Moloney.
In the other WBSS quarterfinal fight Saturday in Orlando, Yunier Dorticos thoroughly outclassed Mateusz Masternak in a cruiserweight bout, but Masternak kept coming.
By the end of 12 rounds, though, it was more than clear that Dorticos had dominated and landed more debilitating power shots. The judges saw it that way as well, giving the Cuban a unanimous decision win (116-112, 115-113, 115-113).
Dorticos will face Andrew Tabiti in the semifinals at a date to be determined.
Dorticos vowed after the fight that "the K.O. Doctor is back," playing up his in-ring moniker, while warning Tabiti that "it ain’t gonna be easy."
Earlier in the night, Stephon Young scored a unanimous decision over Wilner Soto in bantamweight action and Mike Perez defeated Keith Tapia by unanimous decision in a cruiserweight tilt.
