Francisco Rodriguez defeated England's Galal Yafai on June 21 in a significant upset. The Mexican's performance caught the eye for its astonishing tirelessness. Today, July 9, it has been confirmed by Matchroom Boxing, who staged the bout, that Rodriguez failed his post-fight anti-doping test which was conducted by VADA.
Yafai, 9-1 (7 KOs), was defending the WBC interim flyweight strap in Birmingham, England, and was widely expected to follow his impressive beatdown of Sunny Edwards last November with victory over the experienced Rodriguez. The challenger was a revelation, however, employing astonishing output from the first bell until the last. Yafai, who endured a beating, was dropped in the 12th before lopsided scores of 119-108 (twice) and 118-109 went against him.
According to CompuBox, the 40-6-1 (27 KOs) Rodriguez landed 575 punches - a record for the flyweight division - from 1089 thrown.
"Today, the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association [VADA] informed Matchroom, the World Boxing Council [WBC] and British Boxing Board of Control [BBBofC] that Francisco Rodriguez has returned an adverse analytical finding as part of a post-fight night anti-doping test follwing his bout with Galal Yafai," reads Matchroom's statement on the matter.
Rodriguez's positive test will now be investigated by the BBBoC and the WBC.
