‘Bam’ Rodriguez wins unanimous decision on Canelo-GGG undercard

Matchroom Boxing chairman Eddie Hearn suggested that Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez would be in for a challenge Saturday against Israel Gonzalez in the co-feature on the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin undercard.

Challenge complete and, with it, another defense of his world title.

Rodriguez retained his WBC super flyweight title for a second time, earning a workmanlike 118-109, 117-110, 114-113 decision over Gonzalez, a four-time title challenger, at T-Mobile Arena.

Rodriguez has won three times this year, capturing his title in February against Carlos Cuadras and successfully defending it in June against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.

Gonzalez (28-5-1, 11 knockouts) overwhelmed Rodriguez (17-0, 11 KOs) in the early rounds with a flurry of activity. But Rodriguez eventually found a rhythm and adjusted, pivoting to fire punches from a variety of angles.

CompuBox counted 288 connections for Rodriguez compared with 200 for Gonzalez, who fatigued in the final five rounds.

Rodriguez could return in December, and another victory would essentially clinch for him Fighter of the Year honors. At 22, the San Antonio native is boxing’s youngest world champion.

Akhmedov skunks Rosado

Also on the undercard, super middleweight Ali Akhmedov rolled to a unanimous 100-90 victory over veteran journeyman Gabriel Rosado.

Akhmedov (19-1, 14 KOs) imposed his will, battering Rosado (26-16, 15 KOs) with blows to the head and body and setting the tempo with a snapping jab.

Rosado, once a title challenger, has lost three consecutive fights.

Williams claims decision

In the first fight on the pay-per-view card, rising middleweight Austin Williams secured a 97-92, 97-92, 96-93 win over Kieron Conway.

Williams (12-0, nine KOs) struggled to find a rhythm early, but settled down in the middle rounds and dropped Conway (18-3-1, four KOs) in the ninth to pull away on the scorecards.

Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.