Norcalboxing.net
Rodriguez (left) knocked out Bret De La Torre in his last outing. (Erik Killin)
While the top-ranked fighter in all of Northern California takes center stage on Saturday night in Carson's Home Depot Center, a lesser-known young pro will fight on a preliminary bout to build a name for himself.
Chico's Moris Rodriguez (3-0-1, 2 KOs), who fights out of the Mateen Boxing Club in Sacramento, challenges junior welterweight Keandre Gibson (6-0-1, 3 KOs) in a battle of unbeaten prospects on the undercard of San Leandro resident Nonito Donaire's 122-pound unification title bout against South Africa's Jeffrey Mathebula.
Rodriguez wowed the local fight faithful with a devastating second-round stoppage of previously undefeated Bret De La Torre of Vacaville two months ago. After the win, he told Norcalboxing.net that he would like to descend to 135 pounds, but the allure of exposure on a high-profile show was too good to pass up.
At Friday's weigh-in, Rodriguez came in at 139.6 pounds, while Gibson tipped the scales at an even 140. (As far as the main event, both men met the 122-pound limit; Donaire checked in at 121.4, while Mathebula was 121.8.)
Gibson presents Rodriguez's toughest test yet; at 5-foot-10, the 22-year-old St. Louis native has a variety of skills that make him more dangerous than the standard angular fighter because of his above-average handspeed. Regardless, members of Rodriguez's camp insist that the NorCal native is not intimidated and will be ready to turn some heads Saturday night.
Norcalboxing.net's Ryan Maquiñana is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and Ring Magazine’s Ratings Panel. E-mail him at rmaquinana@gmail.com, check out his weekly column for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, his archive for BoxingScene.com, or follow him on Twitter: @RMaq28.
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