Joshua James Pagan made a powerful first impression on his ancestral residence island of Puerto Rico on Saturday, defeating veteran Haskell Rhodes by unanimous choice at Coca-Cola Music Corridor in San Juan.
Pagan (11-0, 4 knockouts) received all ten rounds of their light-weight bout, 100-90, on one card, whereas two judges discovered a single spherical to offer to Rhodes (31-7-1, 16 KOs) to decide on scores of 99-91.
The battle was a strong step-up check for the 24-year-old Pagan of Grand Rapids, Mich., who was prolonged the space in his first ten spherical task, and needed to eat just a few strong punches from the grizzled veteran, together with just a few in opposition to the ropes as the ultimate bell rang.
“Haskell Rhodes is a tricky opponent. I knew coming in he could be very sturdy. I really feel like I made a pair errors in there, I bought a little bit too excited after I had him damage however he survived and that was my mistake. I’ve to return to the drafting board and work on that,” mentioned Pagan, a 2021 U.S. Nationwide Champion.
Pagan, who’s 5 inches taller than the 37-year-old Rhodes of Oklahoma Metropolis at 5’10”, survived an early onslaught from the late substitute opponent Rhodes earlier than solidifying management because the rounds progressed. Slightly than field from distance, Pagan was content material to fulfill Rhodes in the course of the ring, throwing brief punches within Rhodes’ wider photographs to again the shorter fighter up. Pagan landed one of the best punch of the battle within the sixth, when a proper hand rocked Rhodes and put him on the defensive.
The win was the second straight significant win of the yr for Pagan, whose final bout was in Could when he defeated the beforehand unbeaten Roger Hilley by unanimous choice.
Rhodes, whose largest declare to fame was being a long-time sparring associate for Manny Pacquiao, sees his two-fight profitable streak snapped, dropping for the primary time since his shutout loss final December to Antonio Perez in Miami.
The battle headlined a Salita Promotions card which aired stay on DAZN.
In different outcomes, Juan Carrillo (13-0, 9 KOs) remained undefeated, defeating Gilbert Lenin Castillo (25-6-1, 19 KOs) by unanimous choice of their ten-round gentle heavyweight battle. The scores have been 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92, all for the 32-year-old Carrillo of Barranquilla, Colombia.
Additionally in motion, hometown favourite Kiria Tapia (5-0) received a unanimous choice over Beata Dudek (4-5, 4 KOs) of Hungary. Tapia was credited with scoring a knockdown in spherical one en path to profitable by unanimous scores of 60-53 of their six spherical bout.
