Emmanuel Rodriguez vs Ryosuke Nishida Preview May 4th, 2024
IBF Bantamweight Champion Emmanuel Rodriguez of Puerto Rico will be defending his belt against Ryosuke Nishida in the challenger’s hometown of Osaka, Japan this Saturday, May 4th. Rodriguez, the former IBF Champion won the vacant belt the last time out with a unanimous decision over Melvin Lopez in August. Nishida, the current WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight Champion, last fought in August as well when he beat Christian Medina Jiminez by 12-round unanimous decision in an IBF Title Elimination Bout.
Rodriguez vs Nishida Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Ryosuke Nishida +150
- Emmanuel Rodriguez -180
My Pick
The 31-year-old Rodriguez enters the contest with a mark of 22-2 with 13 Ko’s. His first defeat came at the hands of Naoya Inoue by second round stoppage in May, 2019 in the World Boxing Super Series when he lost his IBF Title. Rodriguez had won the vacant IBF Bantamweight Belt with a unanimous decision over Paul Butler in May, 2018 after Butler came in overweight and the title being up for grabs only for Rodriguez. He defended the belt five months later with a split decision win over Jason Moloney before losing it to Inoue.
He then lost his second straight fight when Reymart Gaballo beat him by split decision for the interim WBC Bantamweight Belt. Since turning pro, Rodriguez has also captured various regional titles such as the WBO Latino, WBA Fedelatin and WBC Latino Bantamweight Championships. He enjoyed a fine amateur career with a solid record of 171-11 and won a gold medal at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore. Rodriguez has boxed 139 rounds since turning pro in 2012 and has decent power in his fists as 59.1 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage.
He’s stopped just one opponent in his last eight fights however. Rodriguez stands 5-feet-6-inches tall with a 66.5-inch reach and also has wins over Luis Hinojosa, Alex Rangel, Miguel Cartagena, Elicier Aqueno, Alberto Guevara and Giovanni Delgado. He also beat beat Gary Antonio Russell by a 10-round technical decision in 2022 after Rodriguez couldn’t continue due to an accidental head butt. He and Russell first met in 2021 and the fight was called a no-decision as Rodriguez suffered an accidental head butt after just 16 seconds of the first round and couldn’t continue.
The 27-year-old Nishida is a southpaw who climbs through the ropes with a perfect mark of 8-0 with 1 Ko. He certainly lacks serious power as his current knockout ratio comes in at just 12.5 per cent. His lone knockout came in his pro debut in 2019 when he halted Sakol Ketkul in the first round. Nishida began boxing in high school and captured a national high school boxing tournament. He gave up the sport following university though but took it up again in 2019.
Nishida has wins over former Japanese Bantamweight Champion Shohei Omori and former WBC Flyweight Champion Daigo Higa. His 12-round unanimous decision win over Higa in 2021 was for the WBO Asia Pacific Bantamweight Belt and he’s defended it against Tetsuro Ohashi, Aljum Pelesio and Songsaeng Phoyaem and won every round on all scorecards against Pelesio and Phoyaem over 10 and 12 rounds respectively. At 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 68-inch reach, Nishida is an inch taller than Rodriguez and has a minimal 1.5-inch edge in reach.
Prediction…
Rodriguez has decent power to go with his experience and fine skills while Nishida lacks power but is an excellent boxer. He’ll need to utilize his talent though as it looks like a stoppage win over Rodriguez is out of the question unless he lands a perfect punch. This should be an interesting and very close fight but I think Rodriguez has a bit too much experience for Nishida at the this point as it’s just the ninth pro fight for the Japanese prospect.
A close call, but Rodriguez’s experience may be too much for Nishida.
Play: Rodriguez -180 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Emmanuel Rodriguez betting • Ryosuke Nishida betting