Jose Pedraza uses veteran moves to TKO Julian Rodriguez

Jose Pedraza proved that his experience was greater than the power of Julian Rodriguez. Pedraza now has a three-fight winning streak.  

The Saturday, June 12 Top Rank Boxing matchup between Julian Rodriguez vs. Jose Pedraza pitted a former two-time world champion in Pedraza against an up-and-coming prospect in Rodriguez. The veteran Pedraza used his experience to break the younger fighter down for the round 8 TKO.

Pedraza (29-3, 14 KOs) didn’t have the knockout rating of Rodriguez, but he had a world title experience and that proved to be the difference. Rodriguez was very confident coming into their bout.

“But as far as compared to me, my opinion, none of his tools are sharper than mine,” Rodriguez told FanSided during fight week. “He’s not quicker than me. He’s not smarter than me. He doesn’t have better footwork than me. He’s not more powerful than me. He’s not bigger than me. He doesn’t throw more punches than me.”

Pedraza surprised Rodriguez and broke him down throughout the fight.

Jose Pedraza proved experience could overpower youth as he defeated Julian Rodriguez by TKO

Pedraza appeared to win almost every round of the fight. He pumped his jab in Rodriguez’s face all night and flashed the faster hands. He also showed a crafty side as Pedraza switched to southpaw towards the end of the fight.

Rodriguez’s left eye started to swell early in the fight and his face continued to take damage. At the end of round 8, Rodriguez was in pain and couldn’t see out of his left eye, which swelled shut. His corner stopped the fight, giving Pedraza the TKO victory.

At 32-years-old, Pedraza is climbing the super lightweight ranks. He last lost in 2019 to Jose Zepeda, but now has three wins in a row since that defeat.

This marks Rodriguez’s first loss. The 26-year-old was an amateur standout but needs to go back to the drawing board to figure out his next move.