Aston Palicte sets sights on title fight after dismantling Jose Rodriguez in Texas

NEW YORK, USA – Aston Palicte reserved one of his best performances for his most experienced foe to date.

The Bago City, Philippines, prospect scored a fifth-round technical knockout of Jose Alfredo Rodriguez on Friday, December 8 (Saturday, December 9, Manila time), at the Round Rock Sports Center in Round Rock, Texas, dropping his Mexican foe from a right uppercut that impacted him on delay and caused the referee to stop the fight at the 0:45 mark.

More than just the result, it was also the manner in which Palicte (24-2, 20 knockouts) broke down Rodriguez (32-7, 19 KOs) that earned him praise from Guy Taylor, matchmaker for Roy Jones Jr Boxing Promotions, and his trainer Rodel Mayol, with whom he’s working with for the second fight.

Palicte was particularly devastating with uppercuts from both hands, which opened up right hands between and around the guard, handing Rodriguez his third straight stoppage loss, and in quicker fashion than champions Jerwin Ancajas and Kazuto Ioka were able to finish him.

“That’s one of our killer punches for this fight,” said Mayol, who worked for 5 weeks with Palicte at Wild Card Gym for this fight. “Left hook and right uppercut is the key.”

Aston Palicte’s fifth round TKO win over Jose Alfredo Rodriguez tonight. Delayed reaction from the right uppercut ends the fight. #boxing @soongit @JinnoRufino pic.twitter.com/rrVp5idecG

— Ryan Songalia (@ryansongalia) December 9, 2017

“Aston looked very impressive,” said Taylor in a Facebook message. “Everything was working for him as he dismantled a former world champion (Rodriguez briefly held the interim WBA junior flyweight title) in devastating fashion tonight.”

Taylor said he wants to see Palicte, 26, step up once again and face Hong Kong fighter Rex Tso (22-0, 13 KOs) in a title eliminator. Tso is rated number 2 by the WBO at 115 pounds while Palicte is a spot below him for the title currently held by Naoya Inoue.

Tso, 30, is coming off a seventh-round technical decision win over Kohei Kono in October, when bad swelling from an accidental headbutt caused the fight to head to the scorecards early.

“He is ready for a world title fight and I think he is the strongest [fighter at] 115 pounds,” said Mayol. Palicte echoed his trainer, saying he’s “always ready.”

“Eliminator, then Inoue for world title,” Palicte said of his plans.

An email to Tso’s manager Jay Lau requesting comment was not returned by the time of this story’s publication. – Rappler.com