Jesse Rodriguez knocked out Mexico's Juan Francisco Estrada in the seventh round on Saturday to retain his World Boxing Council super flyweight title. A seventh-round left hook ended the hopes of the Mexican, who had been knocked down by Rodríguez in the sixth round but recovered to turn the fight around.

Referee Chris Flores waved the fight off. "I landed a good body shot," said Rodriguez. "I saw him rolling around on the floor. I knew it was over," he added. Rodriguez improved to 20-0 with his thirteenth knockout victory. The 34-year-old Estrada fell to 44-4 with the defeat in Phoenix, Arizona. Estrada was honest and admitted after the fight that Rodríguez's punch really hurt him. "I haven't felt a punch like that since my amateur days," said Estrada.

Rodríguez, a former flyweight and super flyweight champion, gave up his 112-pound title to move up to 115 pounds and challenge Estrada. And it paid off. Despite the good result for the American, he really struggled and his fall in the sixth round was something that weighed on him. "I got knocked down for the first time. It was crazy. I got caught with a punch and the next thing I knew I was on the canvas," said Rodriguez, who considers Estrada a legend. He was proud to have fought the Mexican.

Estrada entered the ring in Phoenix on an eight-fight winning streak, most recently in December 2022 when he won the super flyweight crown with a majority decision over Nicaragua's Román González. Estrada immediately demanded a rematch and admitted his mistake. "I know the mistake I made and I want the rematch. What I have to do in the next fight is box a little bit more," said Estrada.

He was confident of winning the rematch, should it come to that. The fight was very even. There were many twists and turns. The early rounds were dominated by Rodríguez, who set the pace and landed punches on the champion from the first round. 

The first surprise came in the third round when Rodríguez almost dropped Estrada with a right hook to the jaw. Then, in the fourth, he dropped the champion with a left hook followed by a straight left. The fight could have been over at that point.

Estrada wobbled in the fourth round and could have gone down in the fifth, but he stayed on his feet and almost won the fight in the sixth. Drawing on his experience, Estrada responded with a hard right to Rodríguez's chest. The crowd applauded the effort and Rodríguez hit the canvas.

"I think I let my guard down a little bit. I always wondered what it felt like. Now I know. I don't want that to happen again," said Rodríguez. Rodriguez's goal now is to unify the belts in the weight class.