Mexican Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (40-6-1, 27 KOs) overwhelmed England’s undefeated Galal Yafai (9-1, 7 KOs) last month, June 21, in a significant upset in the Englishman’s home city.
The Mexican’s impressive performance caught the eye for its astonishing tirelessness, winning against the favourite via unanimous decision.
However, today, on July 9, it’s been confirmed by Matchroom Boxing that Rodriguez has since failed a post-fight anti-doping test conducted by VADA.
32-year-old Briton Galal Yafai, an Olympic champion, was defending his WBC Interim flyweight title at the bp Pulse Arena in Birmingham, expected by many to continue his unbeaten winning streak.
Instead, the challenger was a revelation, swarming the home fighter like a hurricane and sustaining his unbelievable output from the first bell until the last.
Yafai was even dropped in the 12th round of the bruising, one-sided beatdown, resulting in scores of 119-108 twice and 118-109 to the unheralded visitor.
According to CompuBox stats, Rodriguez landed 575 punches from 1089 thrown – a record for the flyweight division.
Matchroom Boxing’s statement read: “Today, the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association [VADA] informed Matchroom, the World Boxing Council [WBC] and British Boxing Board of Control [BBBofC] that Francisco Rodriguez has returned an adverse analytical finding as part of a post-fight night anti-doping test follwing his bout with Galal Yafai.”
Rodriguez’s positive test will now be investigated by the BBBofC and the WBC.
