Joshua James Pagan wins step-up fight in Puerto Rico, decisions Haskell Rhodes

Joshua James Pagan made a strong first impression on his ancestral home island of Puerto Rico on Saturday, defeating veteran Haskell Rhodes by unanimous decision at Coca-Cola Music Hall in San Juan.

Pagan (11-0, 4 knockouts) won all ten rounds of their lightweight bout, 100-90, on one card, while two judges found a single round to give to Rhodes (31-7-1, 16 KOs) to settle on scores of 99-91.

The fight was a solid step-up test for the 24-year-old Pagan of Grand Rapids, Mich., who was extended the distance in his first ten round assignment, and had to eat a few solid punches from the grizzled veteran, including a few against the ropes as the final bell rang.

“Haskell Rhodes is a tough opponent. I knew coming in he would be very durable. I feel like I made a couple mistakes in there, I got a little too excited when I had him hurt but he survived and that was my mistake. I have to go back to the drawing board and work on that,” said Pagan, a 2021 U.S. National Champion.

Pagan, who is five inches taller than the 37-year-old Rhodes of Oklahoma City at 5’10”, survived an early onslaught from the late replacement opponent Rhodes before solidifying control as the rounds progressed. Rather than box from distance, Pagan was content to meet Rhodes in the middle of the ring, throwing short punches inside of Rhodes’ wider shots to back the shorter fighter up. Pagan landed the best punch of the fight in the sixth, when a right hand rocked Rhodes and put him on the defensive.

The win was the second straight meaningful win of the year for Pagan, whose last bout was in May when he defeated the previously unbeaten Roger Hilley by unanimous decision.

Rhodes, whose biggest claim to fame was being a long-time sparring partner for Manny Pacquiao, sees his two-fight winning streak snapped, losing for the first time since his shutout loss last December to Antonio Perez in Miami.

The fight headlined a Salita Promotions card which aired live on DAZN.

In other results, Juan Carrillo (13-0, 9 KOs) remained undefeated, defeating Gilbert Lenin Castillo (25-6-1, 19 KOs) by unanimous decision in their ten-round light heavyweight fight. The scores were 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92, all for the 32-year-old Carrillo of Barranquilla, Colombia.

Also in action, hometown favorite Kiria Tapia (5-0) won a unanimous decision over Beata Dudek (4-5, 4 KOs) of Hungary. Tapia was credited with scoring a knockdown in round one en route to winning by unanimous scores of 60-53 in their six round bout.