Who won Rodriguez vs Melvin Lopez?
Emmanuel Rodriguez beat Melvin Lopez by unanimous decision in their 12 round contest on Saturday 12th August 2023 at MGM National Harbor, in Oxon Hill.
The scorecards were announced as 120-105, 120-105, 120-105 in favor of winner Emmanuel Rodriguez.
The fight was scheduled to take place over 12 rounds in the Bantamweight division, which meant the weight limit was 118 pounds (8.4 stone or 53.5 KG).
This contest was for the IBF bantamweight championship of the world.
Also, on the undercard Gary Antuanne Russell was victorious over Kent Cruz and Travon Marshall lost to Gabriel Maestre.
Rodriguez vs Melvin Lopez stats
Emmanuel Rodriguez stepped into the ring with a record of 21 wins, 2 loses and 0 draws.
Melvin Lopez made his way to the ring with a record of 29 wins, 1 loss and 0 draws.
Emmanuel Rodriguez was the older man by 6 years, at 31 years old.
Lopez had a height advantage of 1 inch over Rodriguez. That also extended to a 1-inch reach advantage.
Both Emmanuel Rodriguez & Melvin Lopez fought out of an orthodox stance.
Rodriguez was arguably the less experienced fighter, having had 7 less fights, and made his debut in 2012, 3 years and 3 months earlier than Lopez, whose first professional fight was in 2015. He had fought 6 less professional rounds, 139 to Lopez's 145.
Emmanuel Rodriguez went into the fight ranked number 2 by the IBF at bantamweight.
Melvin Lopez was ranked number 3 by the WBO and 3 by the IBF in the 118lb division.
Rodriguez vs Melvin Lopez form
Emmanuel Rodriguez had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents.
In his last fight before this contest, he had beat Gary Antonio Russell on 15th October 2022 by technical decision in their 10 round contest at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, United States.
Previous to that, he had beat Gary Antonio Russell on 14th August 2021 by technical decision in the 1st round at Dignity Health Sports Park, California.
Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Reymart Gaballo on 19th December 2020 by split decision in their WBC World Bantamweight championship fight at Mohegan Sun Casino, Connecticut.
Before that, he had lost to Naoya Inoue on 18th May 2019 by knockout in the 2nd round in their IBF World Bantamweight, WBA World Bantamweight and The Ring Bantamweight championship fight at The SSE Hydro, Scotland, United Kingdom.
He had beat Jason Moloney on 20th October 2018 by split decision in their IBF World Bantamweight championship fight at CFE Arena, Florida, United States.
Activity check
Rodriguez's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 9 months and 23 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 11 months and 17 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 37 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 7.4 rounds on average.
What time did Rodriguez vs Melvin Lopez start?
The fighters were expected to ringwalk at around 11:00 PM EST / 8:00 PM PST at MGM National Harbor,, Oxon Hill, United States, which was around 4:00 AM BST in the UK.
Who broadcast Rodriguez vs Melvin Lopez?
Rodriguez vs Melvin Lopez was broadcast on ShowTime in the US.
What were the odds on Rodriguez vs Melvin Lopez?
Emmanuel Rodriguez was a 1/8 (-830) favourite going into the contest, while Melvin Lopez made his way into the ring at 5/1 (+500) with oddsmakers.
