By Craig Daly: Emmanuel Rodriguez (21-2, 13 KOs) weighed in at 118 lbs, and his power-punching opponent Melvin Lopez (29-1, 19 KOs) came in at 117 pounds at Friday’s weigh-in for their twelve round fight for the vacant IBF bantamweight title this Saturday, August 12th at The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Maryland.
The Rodriguez vs. Lopez event will be shown on Showtime at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
Complete weights for Showtime
- Emmanuel Rodriguez 118 vs. Melvin Lopez 117
- Gary Antuanne Russell 138.4 vs. Kent Cruz 142
- Travon Marshall 146.8 vs. Gabriel Maestre 146.6
- Michael Angeletti 117.8 vs. Jonathan Lopez 118
- Jose Benavidez Jr. 158.6 vs. Sladan Janjanin 160.6
- Damien Vázquez 120 vs. Jeronil Borres 121.6
In the chief support weights, light welterweight contender Gary Antuanne Russell (16-0, 16 KOs) weighed in at 138 lbs, while his opponent Kent Cruz (16-0-3, 10 KOs) missed weight, coming in at 142 lbs, which two lbs over the limit for the 140-lb division. The fight will still go ahead on Saturday.
Russell is ranked #2 WBC and should be getting a crack at a world title soon. With recent knockout wins over Rances Barthelemy, Viktor Postol, and Jovanie Santiago, Russell is ready for a world title shot.
Some would argue that Russell is more deserving of a title shot against WBC 140-lb champion Regis Prograis than Devin Haney, considering he’s been fighting at the weight. Haneey is getting the fight against Prograis because of his popularity and his holding the undisputed championship at 135.
The former IBF 118-lb champion Manny Rodriguez is trying to recapture his old title after losing it to Naoya Inoue by a second round knockout in May 2019.
No one can fault Rodriguez for getting blown out by a fighter like Inoue because he’s on a different level from anyone else at 118 and now 122.
However, what does look bad is Emmanuel Rodriguez losing to Reymart Gaballo by a twelve round split decision in 2020. That defeat showed that Rodriguez doesn’t possess the goods to be a guy that can stay on top for long unless he’s matched well.
Jose Lopez, 25, has the kind of power that can give Manny Rodriguez all kinds of problems on Saturday, particularly with his body punching. If Lopez can target Rodriguez’s body, he could take him out early.
Inoue found success against Rodriguez with his left hook, dropping him with it in the second round and then knocking him down twice to get a knockout.
Lopez has won his last eight fights since losing to journeyman Jose Velasquez by a ninth round knockout in 2019.
