Rodriguez capped off a knockout-infested fight card in the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Miss., with an absolute highlight-reel knockout if there ever was one. “La Bomba” dropped the Atlanta-based brawler early with a loopy overhand right followed by a left hook. Seals floundered forward and then fell onto his face, but he was able to quickly regain his senses and spring back to his feet.
Rodriguez became a bit overzealous as he gunned for the first-round knockout, but the former super middleweight world title challenger made the costly mistake of rushing in. Seals cracked him with a short left hook, a punch that short-circuited the heavily favored fighter and took him off his feet.
Related » PBC on Spike Round-by-Round Scoring
Rodriguez was able to climb back to his feet, but he was cautious for the next minute or so until he pinned his foe into a corner. Edwin landed a shot to the midsection, but just as the bell was about to end the round, Seals floored him again with a right to the noggin. Rodriguez was badly shaken and struggled back to his feet, but luckily for him, the stanza had come to an end.
Late in the second after a measured back-and-forth two minutes, Seals backed himself into a corner again, only to be felled by another right to the jaw. Seals crumbled onto his knees, but just as it seemed as though the Atlanta slugger wouldn’t be able to continue, he stood up and continued to fight. The two light heavyweights slugged it out until the bell, both being rocked in the process.
Rodriguez finally closed out the show a few moments later after pegging him with two stiff jabs. A vicious right to the jaw scrambled Seals’ equilibrium. Seals stumbled forward, flopped into the ropes, spun around and fell flat on his back. He barely was able to beat the count but it didn’t matter; referee Freddie Steinwinder III had already called off the wild brawl. As the veteran third man held Seals up, Michael began barking at the crowd and pounding his chest, clearly unaware as to what had just happened.
The official time of the TKO came just 24 seconds into the third round, allowing Dominican Republic native Rodriguez (28-1, 19 KOs) to inch closer to a world title shot at 175 pounds. Seals fell to 19-1 with 14 KOs for his effort.
Light heavyweight contender Thomas Williams Jr. survived a first round knockdown to take out Cuba’s Humberto Savigne in the second. Williams, from Maryland, floored his foe early in the contest with a choppy overhand right on the ear, but Savigne quickly climbed back to his feet. However, Williams then left himself open for a counter left hook shortly thereafter, a punch which felled him onto the seat of his trunks.
The action continued into the second frame of the contest, but Williams (19-1, 13 KOs) proved to be too powerful as he rocked the Florida resident with a series of lefts and rights to the head, dropping him again. Savigne (12-3, 9 KOs) got back up and tried to retaliate, but an onslaught of punches caused him to stumble backward and into the ropes. After several more shots crashed onto his noggin, referee Keith Hughes finally stopped it. The official time of the TKO was 1:48 of the second.
Young welterweight prospect Bryant Perrella barely broke a sweat in his easy destruction of Frenchman Chaquib Fadli. “Goodfella” Perrella (12-0, 11 KOs) tore into his foe’s body and scored a quick knockdown when Fadli slumped into the ropes. Fadli (13-6, 7 KOs) tried to fight back once the fight resumed, but the Floridian dropped him with a right to the body, followed by a left hook upstairs. Referee Freddie Steinwinder III had seen enough at this point and waived it off, officially ending the slaughter at the 90 second mark.
Middleweight contender Fernando Guerrero took his time but eventually wore down Brazil’s Daniel Souza-Santos, stopping him in the seventh round. Guerrero (28-3, 20 KOs) goaded his foe into a brawl and eventually ended it with a savage attack to the body and head. Souza-Santos (14-9, 11 KOs) barely climbed back to his feet, but referee Keith Hughes stopped it at 1:45 of the round.