ASTON ‘Mighty’ Palicte made his presence felt in the United States as he successfully defended his North American Boxing Federation (NABF) super flyweight title with a technical knockout (TKO) win against former interim WBA world light flyweight champion Jose Alfredo Rodriguez in Texas, Friday night (Saturday morning, Manila time).
The 26-year-old Palicte, a native of Bago City, Negros Occidental, scored a fifth round TKO against the Mexican Rodriguez at the Round Rock Sports Center.
Unlike his U.S. debut fight last year where he won against American Oscar Cantu by split decision in Las Vegas, Palicte this time showcased his potential to become a super flyweight contender as he stopped Rodriguez at the 45 second mark of the fifth round.
A right uppercut wobbled Rodriguez in the fifth round and Palicte took advantage of this as he threw more combinations that sent the Mexican backing to his corner. Rodriguez fell on his knees right before Palicte landed another set of combinations.
The referee tried to count but Rodriguez gave up.
The win improved Palicte’s record to 24 wins (20 knockouts) and two defeats while Rodriguez suffered his seventh loss against 32 wins (19 KOs).