Australia’s Alexander Volkanovski on Saturday refused to let a considerable size difference put him off as he pulled off a brilliant knockout win over Yair Rodriguez to retain his featherweight title at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The 34-year-old Volkanovski stunned his Mexican opponent with a right hook and followed it up with devastating ground strikes to end the fight with 41 seconds left in round three, before saying he planned to step up a division and claim a new crown.
“I still want that lightweight belt, I’m still coming for that, whoever’s next,” he said in a post-fight interview.
Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY
Volkanovski’s previous attempt to add the lightweight title to his featherweight belt ended in a unanimous decision loss to Islam Makhachev in February, but it appears there is no featherweight who can threaten his dominance as he made his fifth successful defense of the title.
With Rodriguez’s considerable height and reach advantages, Volkanovski was careful to stay out of range in the first round before taking the fight to the ground, where he controlled his Mexican opponent with relative ease.
Rodriguez had some success early in the second round with some lightning-fast kicks, but was rocked with a punch that allowed Volkanovski to take the fight back to the mat.
Although he looked dangerous on the feet, Rodriguez had no answer when Volkanovski closed the distance, and a counter-right hook from the Australian signaled the beginning of the end as the fourth round reached its climax.
Sensing victory, Volkanovski poured forward, dumping Rodriguez on the canvas again and raining down blows before referee Herb Dean stopped the fight.
“You’ve got to expect the unexpected. That’s Yair. Everyone who knows the game knows how dangerous he was,” Volkanovski said.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Kite-surfing fabrics, car tires and shortened shoelaces helped Kenyan Sabastian Sawe and Adidas crack the two-hour marathon barrier. When Sawe on Sunday shattered one of athletics’ most elusive barriers in storming to victory at the London Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes, 30 seconds, it did not come from just physiology and grit, but from design choices drawn from far beyond the course. Sawe debuted Adidas’ lightest-ever racing shoe, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3. “It starts with the mentality of the athlete, the coach, and the team behind the product, which is: What can we do better? What is the 1 percent
RSS