Jose Francisco Rodríguez Tamayo (born 10 July 1993) is a Mexican

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who has held the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

(WBC) interim

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

title since June 2025. He also previously held the unified

International Boxing Federation The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts. The others are the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing C ...

(IBF) and

World Boxing Organization The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

(WBO)

mini-flyweight Mini flyweight, also known as paperweight, minimumweight, strawweight, or super atomweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, boxers in the minimumweight division may weigh no more than . This is a relatively new ...

titles in 2014.

Professional career

Unified mini flyweight champion

Rodríguez Jr. vs. Sabillo

His 16–2 record earned Rodríguez Jr. the right to challenge the undefeated

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

mini flyweight Mini flyweight, also known as paperweight, minimumweight, strawweight, or super atomweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, boxers in the minimumweight division may weigh no more than . This is a relatively new ...

champion Merlito Sabillo in what was the Sabillo's third title defense. The title bout was scheduled as the main event of a card which took place at the

Monterrey Arena Arena Monterrey is an indoor arena in Monterrey, Mexico. It is primarily used for shows, concerts and indoor sports like indoor soccer, arena football and basketball. It used to be the home arena of the Monterrey Fury indoor soccer team and the F ...

Monterrey, Mexico Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

on 22 March 2014. He won the fight by a tenth-round technical knockout. Rodríguez Jr. knocked Sabillo down with a flurry of punches as early as the second round and continued to dominate from that point on. Sabillo's head trainer Edito Villamor opted to throw in the towel at the 1:50 minute of the tenth round, having deemed his fighter to have taken too much punishment.

Rodríguez Jr. vs. Takayama

Rodríguez Jr. faced the IBF mini flyweight champion

Katsunari Takayama is a Japanese professional boxer. He is a five-time mini-flyweight world champion, having held the WBC title in 2005, the IBF title twice between 2013 and 2015, and the WBO title twice between 2014 and 2017. He retired as a professional in 20 ...

in a unification bout in his next professional appearance. The contest took place in the same venue as his previous title fight, the Monterrey Arena in Monterrey, Mexico, on 9 August 2014. It was broadcast by

TV Azteca Televisión Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V., commonly known as TV Azteca, is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate owned by Grupo Salinas. It is the second-largest mass media company in Mexico after Televisa. It primarily competes with Televisa as well as so ...

domestically and by

beIN Sports beIN Sports ( ) is a Qatari multinational network of sports channels owned and operated by the media group beIN. The network has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its ...

in the United States. Rodríguez Jr. won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 119–108, 116–111 and 115–112. He scored the sole knockdown of the fight in the third round, flooring Takayama with a left hook. The fight was later named the "2014 Fight of the Year" by

Bleacher Report ''Bleacher Report'' (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sports and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. ''Bleacher Report'' was acquired by Time Warner's Turner B ...

, Boxing Scene, and

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. Rodríguez Jr. vacated the IBF title on 1 October 2014 and the WBO title on 15 December 2014. His promoters claimed that he had vacated the title as was struggling to meet the 105-lbs mark, saying: "...basically, since he was struggling to make 105 pounds, he’s looking to make his mark at the higher weight now".

Light flyweight and flyweight

Rodríguez Jr. vs. Fajardo

After vacating his IBF title, but before vacating the WBO title as well, Rodríguez Jr. moved up to flyweight in order to face the unheralded Jomar Fajardo. The bout was scheduled for the undercard of "Pinoy Pride 28", which was headlined by a light flyweight title bout between

Donnie Nietes Donnie Liboon Nietes (born May 12, 1982) is a Filipino professional boxer who has won world titles in four weight-classes, having previously held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) mini-flyweight title from 2007 to 2011; the WBO and ''The Ri ...

and Carlos Velarde, and which took place at the Waterfront Hotel & Casino in

Cebu City, Philippines Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...

on 15 November 2014. Fajardo stepped in as a late notice replacement for Virgilio Silvano. Despite coming into the fight as a significant favorite, Rodríguez failed to win the bout, as it ended in a split decision draw. One judge scored the fight 96–94 for Fajardo, the second judge scored it 98–92 for Rodríguez, while the third judge scored it as an even 95–95 draw. An immediate rematch was booked for 31 January 2015. It took place at the Palenque de la Feria in

Tuxtla Gutiérrez Tuxtla Gutiérrez, or Tuxtla, (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Mexico, Mexican southeastern state of Chiapas. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name, which is the most developed and populous in the state. A busy govern ...

, Mexico. Rodríguez Jr. won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 100–92, 97–92 and 99–90.

Rodríguez Jr. vs. Nietes

On 3 June 2015, it was revealed that Rodríguez Jr. would challenge the reigning

and ''

The Ring The Ring may refer to: Arts and entertainment *The Ring (franchise), ''The Ring'' (franchise), a Japanese horror media franchise Literature * ''The Ring'', a 1967 novel by Richard Chopping * ''The Ring'', a 1988 book by Daniel Keys Moran * ''The R ...

'' light flyweight champion

. The fight headlined a

and

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

broadcast card, that took place on 11 July 2015 in Nietes' native

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Nietes retained the titles by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–110, 119–109 and 115–113.

Super flyweight

Title run

After failing to capture the WBO flyweight title, Rodríguez Jr. moved up to

super flyweight Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council responded to pressure from A ...

. He faced the former WBO light flyweight champion

Ramón García Hirales Ramón García Hirales (born 10 September 1982) is a Mexican professional boxer who held the WBO light flyweight title in 2011. He is the twin brother of ex-WBO and IBF minimumweight world champion Raúl García. Professional career Interim WB ...

, in his first fight at super flyweight, on 20 February 2016. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 99–89, 99–88 and 96–91. Rodríguez knocked Hirales down twice in the seventh round and once in the eight round, although he was unable to finish him. Rodríguez Jr. next faced Johnny Michel Garcia in a tune-up fight on 23 July 2016. He won the fight by a fifth-round technical knockout. He was leading on all three of the judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage, with scores of 50–45, 50–45 and 49–46. Rodríguez Jr. was booked to face Crison Omayao on 29 October 2016, at the Palenque Vicente Fernandez in Gomez Palacio, Mexico. He knocked Omayao down once in the fourth round, before knocking him out in the fifth round. Rodríguez Jr. faced Hajime Nagai on 4 February 2017, in his first fight of the year. He won the fight by technical decision, with all three judges scoring the bout 50–43 in his favor. The fight was stopped at the 1:22 minute mark of the fifth round, as Nagai was unable to continue due to an eye swelling and watering caused by an accidental elbow strike. Rodríguez Jr. was next booked to face the undefeated Elias Joaquino on 12 August 2017. He won the fight by a seventh-round knockout, after having knocked Joaquino down once in the seventh round. He was leading at the time of the stoppage, with all three judges' having scored the fight 70–61 in his favor. Rodríguez Jr. faced the 60-fight veteran Ronald Ramos on 16 December 2017. He had a great start to the fight, knocking Ramos in the very first round, and won the fight by a sixth-round technical knockout. Rodríguez Jr. faced the former Japanese super flyweight champion and one time WBO Asia Pacific and

OPBF The Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) is a professional boxing organization that sanctions title fights in the Asian and Pacific region. History Oriental boxing started in the Philippines in 1946 after the Spanish-American War. Whi ...

title challenger Yohei Tobe on 9 June 2018, for the vacant WBC Latino Silver Super Flyweight belt. He knocked Tobe down twice by the 2:33 minute mark of the second round, prompting Tobe's corner to throw in the towel. Rodríguez Jr. faced the former WBA

champion and one-time interim

title challenger

Hernán Márquez Hernán Márquez Beltrán (born September 4, 1988), commonly known by his nickname " Tyson" Márquez, is a Mexican professional boxer. He held the WBA flyweight title from 2011 to 2012, and has challenged once for the WBA interim super flyweig ...

on 20 October 2018. He won the fight by a third-round technical knockout. Rodríguez knocked Márquez with a short left cross 30 seconds into the third round, which didn't leave his opponent visibly hurt as he was able to beat the ten-count. Rodríguez floored Márquez down with another left cross in the final minute of the round, which left him unable to rise from the canvas. Referee Florentino Lopez decided to wave the fight off at the 2:10 minute mark, without administering the full ten-count. Rodríguez Jr. faced fellow former

champion

Oswaldo Novoa Oswaldo Novoa Mora (born 2 February 1982) is a Mexican professional boxer who held the WBC strawweight title in 2014. Professional career On October 5, 2012, Novoa defeated José Alfredo Zúñiga by twelfth round unanimous decision to win t ...

on 6 April 2019. He won the fight by a narrow unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the bout 95–94 in his favor. Rodríguez Jr. faced the undefeated David Barreto on 1 June 2019, who entered the fight on a 12-fight winning streak. He won the fight by a second-round stoppage, as Barreto's corner chose to retire their fighter at the end of the round. Following a third-round stoppage of William Riera on 26 October 2019, Rodríguez Jr. was booked to face Jose Maria Cardenas on 30 November 2019, with the vacant WBC Latino super flyweight title on the line. He won the fight by a sixth-round technical knockout.

Rodríguez Jr. vs Ioka

On 2 December 2020, it was revealed that Rodríguez Jr. would challenge the reigning WBC

champion Julio Cesar Martinez. The fight was expected to take place on the undercard of the

Canelo Álvarez Santos Saúl Álvarez Barragán (; born 18 July 1990), commonly known as Canelo or Saúl Álvarez, is a Mexican professional boxer. He has held multiple quadruple champion#Boxing, world championships in four weight classes, from light middlewe ...

and

Callum Smith Callum John Smith (born 23 April 1990) is a British professional boxer. He has held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) interim light-heavyweight title since February 2025. Previously, he held the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Super versi ...

super middleweight title bout, which took place on 19 December 2020 at the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. Martinez withdrew from the fight on 10 December, due to a non-

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

related illness. On 1 June 2021, the

ordered their reigning champion

Kazuto Ioka is a Japanese professional boxer who held the unified WBA and WBC mini-flyweight titles between 2011 and 2012, the WBA (Regular) light-flyweight title from 2012 to 2014, the WBA flyweight title from 2016 to 2017, having previously held the WB ...

to face Rodríguez Jr., who was at the time the #2 ranked super flyweight contender, in a mandatory title defense. The pair came to terms three weeks later, on 21 June, therefore successfully avoiding a purse bid. The fight was scheduled to take place on 1 September 2021, at the

Ota City General Gymnasium Ota City General Gymnasium is an arena in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and exte ...

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Ioka won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 116–112 in his favor.

Later super flyweight career

After his second failed title bid, Rodríguez Jr. moved up to bantamweight. He faced Arnulfo Salvador Rodriguez on 14 January 2022. Rodríguez Jr. won the fight by a seventh-round technical knockout. Rodríguez Jr. returned to super flyweight to face Erick Omar Lopez on 16 July 2022. He won the fight by a unanimous decision. Rodríguez Jr. faced the

champion

Junto Nakatani is a Japanese professional boxer. He has held world championships in three weight classes, including the World Boxing Organization (WBO) flyweight title from 2020 to 2022, the WBO junior-bantamweight title in 2023. He is currently the unifie ...

in a super flyweight non-title bout on 1 November 2022, on the undercard of the

Hiroto Kyoguchi is a Japanese professional boxer. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the IBF mini-flyweight title from 2017 to 2018, and the WBA (Super) and ''The Ring'' light-flyweight titles from 2018 to 2022. Professional career Early career ...

and

Kenshiro Teraji , also known as , is a Japanese professional boxer and unified flyweight champion, having held the World Boxing Council (WBC) title since October 2024, and the World Boxing Association (WBA) title since March 2025. He has unified titles in two ...

title unification bout. He lost the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 98–91, 97–92 and 99–90. Rodríguez Jr. was deducted a point in the seventh round for landing a low blow.

Interim WBC flyweight champion

Rodríguez Jr. vs. Yafai

Rodríguez was in mandatory position to challenge British boxer

Galal Yafai Galal Yafai (; born 11 December 1992) is an English professional boxer. He has held the WBC interim flyweight title since November 2024. As an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2017 European Championships; gold at the 2018 Commonwealth; ...

for his WBC interim flyweight title. The fight went to purse bids, with a winning bid of $222,000 by sole bidders

Matchroom Boxing Matchroom Sport is a UK-based sporting event promotions company founded by Barry Hearn and run by him and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, golf, fishin ...

in March 2025. In April, the card was announced to take place at the BP Pulse LIVE in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England on 21 June 2025. Rodríguez became the new WBC interim champion after defeating Yafai via a lopsided unanimous decision. Rodríguez showed that his experience, toughness, and all-around ability was too much for Yafai. The scorecards read 119-108, 119-108, and 118-109 all in favour of Rodríguez. He applied a non-stop attack from the beginning, while Yafai was never allowed to get close to hurting him. Yafai showed a lot of heart to hear the final. By mid fight, both boxers were cut around the eyes. Yafai was dropped in the seventh round, only for the referee to not call it a knockdown. it was evident from here that Yafai needed a stoppage, but he could not keep up with the pace Rodríguez had set. Prior to the ninth round, both men were checked over by the ringside doctor. Yafai was dropped in the twelfth round, but beat the count. His trainer Rob McCracken had the towel in his hands from this point, but allowed his boxer to hear the final bell. Rodríguez was now the mandatory for full champion

. Rodríguez threw over 1000 punches, landing over half of them.

CompuBox CompuBox is a computerized punch-tracking system widely used in professional boxing to provide statistical analysis of matches. Established in 1985, it has become an integral tool for broadcasters and analysts, offering viewers quantitative data o ...

showed Rodríguez landed 575 of 1089 punches thrown (53%) and Yafai connected with 230 of his 795 thrown (34%).

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodríguez, Francisco Jr. 1993 births Living people Mexican male boxers Boxers from Nuevo León Sportspeople from Monterrey Light-flyweight boxers Flyweight boxers Super-flyweight boxers World mini-flyweight boxing champions World Boxing Organization champions International Boxing Federation champions 21st-century Mexican sportsmen