Sometimes you just have to shake your head.
Emmanuel Rodriguez seemed to give the untested Reymart Gaballo a boxing lesson yet lost a split decision on Saturday at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.
Judge David Sutherland scored it 118-110 for Rodriguez, which seemed to reflect what happened in the ring. However, Don Trella and John McKaie had Gaballo winning 116-112 and 115-113, respectively, giving the Filipino the “interim” WBC bantamweight title.
Rodriguez (19-2, 12 KOs) was coming off a second-round knockout loss to Naoya Inoue in May of last year. Still, the Puerto Rican is seen as a fine technician.
And it showed against Gaballo, a 24-year-old slugger with no experience at an elite level. Rodriguez seemed to control the fight with his superior ability and landed the cleaner punches.
Here is the official scoring for the Reymart Gaballo-Emmanuel Rodriguez fight.
Gaballo, who fought aggressively most of the might, had his moments and probably deserved to win a few rounds. However, it seemed everyone was shocked when the winner was announced.
Rodriguez showed no emotions when he left the ring but the expression on his face made it clear that he couldn’t believe what had happened.
“It was a good fight, but he only won about two or three rounds,” said Rodriguez. “There were two punches from me for every punch he landed. He knows he lost. Everyone knows we won.
“My team told me to go out and keep boxing him in the late rounds. We knew he needed a knockout in the twelfth round. That was his only chance to win.”
Of course, Gaballo, a relative unknown going into the fight, was elated.
“I am very happy and blessed to win this belt,” Gaballo said. “I was always moving forward and controlling the pace, so I thought it was a close fight that either of us could have won.
“I’m waiting for my team to tell me what they have planned for me next. I’m going to keep training hard so I’m always ready for the opportunity when it comes.”
