Hearn: “Rodriguez popped for doping two fights in a row”

Eddie Hearn, head of Matchroom Boxing, says Francisco Rodriguez failed a doping test not only for his bout with Galal Yafai but also in his previous outing against Josue Jesus Morales last December— a fight that was ruled a no contest.

“What’s worse is I learned yesterday that Rodriguez also failed a test in his previous fight, and that bout was a no contest. I was scrolling BoxRec, looked up Francisco Rodriguez and saw his fight before Galal Yafai listed as ‘no contest.’ I contacted the Texas commission and they confirmed he failed a drug test for that fight.

I spoke to Mauricio Sulaiman yesterday and he said he didn’t know anything about it. I believe him. But look at the situation: he fails two tests in a row on fight night, goes 12 rounds with Galal Yafai and inflicts physical damage—and two weeks later you just say it was accidental and allow a rematch? That’s madness. I went through this with Conor Benn. It took us two years to get a ruling.

I also think fighters should have a chance to explain themselves, but I don’t believe that’s possible without analyzing the B‑sample—two weeks later—when people are just saying, ‘Yeah, no problem. Let’s do a rematch.’ Now that the information from the Texas commission has come out, this could change everything. I think Galal should be made the mandatory,” Hearn said.

Meanwhile, Robert Smith, head of the British Boxing Board of Control, stressed that the WBC’s statement has nothing to do with the BBBofC or the decision it will make.

“UKAD is handling this case on our behalf and is reviewing it now. No one has informed us of any preliminary results, and we’ve received all the standard documents. It’s a matter we’ll have to analyze. If our boxer fought abroad, we would certainly have notified the relevant commission,” Smith said.

The fight between Francisco Rodriguez (40‑6‑1, 27 KOs) and Galal Yafai (9‑1, 7 KOs) took place on 21 June and ended in a unanimous decision for Rodriguez—scores 118‑109 and 119‑108 twice—with Yafai down in the 12th.

A day earlier, the WBC opted not to suspend Rodriguez over his positive test. Instead, the organization placed him on a 12‑month probation, voided the result of the Yafai fight, ordered a rematch, and reinstated Yafai’s interim‑champion status.

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