Puerto Rico’s Emmanuel ‘El Sensacional’ Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KO’s) is totally confident of defending his IBF title when he faces Japan’s pound-for-pound star ‘Monster’ Naoya Inoue (17-0, 15 KO’s) in the WBSS bantamweight semi-final on Saturday at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.
“The sky is the limit for me and my team,” said Rodriguez who’s on a mission in Glasgow to prove people are wrong about making Inoue a favourite in the hotly-anticipated bout of two unbeaten warriors.
“I am well aware that I am fighting a guy considered the best by reporters and fans, but I have been waiting this moment my entire life. I always wanted to fight the best. We are going to go in with all the tools and I can tell you that we will get nothing but the victory and shut up some people’s mouths. On May 18 I will still be the world champion and I will go all the way and take home the trophy to Puerto Rico.”
Inoue has predicted a KO win, and Rodriguez expects to win by KO or a unanimous decision. “I will win no matter what, that’s my prediction,” said the highly-skilled who trained in Cuba prior to the semi to fully concentrate on Inoue.
But whoever is in front of him in the World Boxing Super Series, Rodriguez feels well prepared.
“We have studied every fighter way before the tournament. We got this.”
Tickets for the Monster WBSS Semi-Finals night, Ivan Baranchyk vs Josh Taylor and Naoya Inoue vs Emmanuel Rodriguez on 18 May at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland are on sale now from TheSSEHydro.com
All the action will be live on DAZN in the U.S. and Sky Sports in the U.K.
Source: World Boxing Super Series [Press Release]