Brock Jarvis survives tough time in latest win over Alejandro Rodriguez
In his second fight of the year, lightweight boxer Brock Jarvis (20-0, 18 KO’s) snagged his twentieth professional win. Jarvis, 23, accomplished this feat by stopping Alejandro Frias “La Ranita” Rodriguez (13-5-2, 6 KO’s) in the fifth round of their dustup. The win marked Jarvis’ third consecutive conquest by knockout.
It also marked the first time that either Burgos or the Matchroom Boxing promoted bruiser fought in the US. Unfortunately for him, Jarvis would have to brave his first major bout of in-ring adversity. Luckily, he showed the proper grit to weather the storm. With the spoils of victory, the Australian Jarvis collected the IBF inter-continental lightweight title.
ROCKY START
Jarvis launched out of his corner and sutured himself to La Ranita right out the gate. Opting to forego any semblance of a feel-out round, the Australian began throwing tight, hard hooks to the head and body fast and furiously. Over the course of the round, Rodriguez did appear more than a little bit bothered. Despite fighting the majority of the period under severe duress, La Ranita landed a few impressive counter shots of his own.
The climate of the bout drastically changed early in the second round. The Australian prospect was clobbered with a hard looping left hook that jellied his legs and left him generally defenseless. Amazingly, Jarvis survived the period despite being belted and flung around the ring like a lottery ball with legs for well over two minutes. Rodriguez was actually shortchanged a knockdown when Jarvis was battered halfway out the ring and was only held up by the ropes. Rather than issue his eight count, referee Ed Collantes simply let him continue fighting.
DOMINATION DOWN THE STRETCH
Jarvis recovered fairly well in between rounds and even resumed his role as ring general. Perhaps he was punched out, but for whatever the reason La Ranita allowed himself to be worked over along the ropes throughout the third. Yet, when Jarvis was hit, he did still look a bit wobbly. By the fourth however, the Australian was once again on sturdy legs and chopping away at Rodriguez like Paul Bunyan after guzzling some Red Bull. La Ranita did little outside of cover up and absorbed punishment in the corner.
When Jarvis resumed whacking away at the listless Rodriguez in the fifth, referee Collantes had seen enough. He soon waved off the contest. Ultimately, it was a good win and great experience for the young fighter. Still, clearly he has holes in his game to patch up!
By: Bakari Simpson
