By Jake Donovan

It's unknown whether Francisco Rodriguez Jr. will ever again experience the success he enjoyed during his stay as a strawweight titlist. At the very least, he remains must-see TV no matter the stage. 

An entertaining yet forgettable 2015 ring campaign now in the rearview mirror, Rodriguez Jr. returned to the win column. His first victory in more than a year came at the expense of Ramon Garcia, scoring three knockdowns en route to a lopsided win Saturday evening at home in Monterrey, Mexico. 

Scores were 99-88 , 96-91, 99-89 in favor of Rodriguez Jr., who was a ball of energy from the opening bell. 

Both fighters were in desperate need of a win, though perhaps more so the local favorite as there remains hope of another title run in his future. The same cannot be said for Garcia, who at age 33 has reached opponent status while his twin brother Raul remains a junior flyweight hopeful.

A battle of former strawweight champs never carried much appeal beyond how it read on paper, proving to be a mismatch from the opening bell. It's easy for Rodriguez Jr. to make it look any other way, as his all-action style and defensive lapses tend to make for great theatre. 

He appeared at times to be a bit too out of control for his own good. A clash of heads left Garcia with a cut just outside his right eye in round four, with Rodriguez Jr. warned but not penalized. 

It hardly slowed him down, providing a high octane performance that went from lopsided to an outright rout in a hurry. 

Garcia did his best to hold his own, but fell apart down the stretch. A sweeping right hook felled the veteran boxer midway through round seven. He barely beat the mandatory eight count when Rodriguez Jr. literally ran across the ring in hopes of finishing off his wounded prey.

A second knockdown came from his efforts, with a left-right combination sending Garcia reeling along the ropes and back to the canvas.

Rodriguez Jr. scored the third and final knockdown of the night in round eight, when Garcia was rocked and briefly touched his knee to the canvas. He did his best to sell it as a slip, but was instead given a count.

It was smooth sailing to the finish line for Rodriguez Jr., who picks up his first win in 13 months as he advances to 18-4-1 (11KOs).

Garcia suffers his fourth consecutive defeat, falling to 20-8-1 (12KOs).  

UNDERCARD

Carlos "Chuko" Diaz maintained his perfect record with a 10-round unanimous decision victory over a determined Ulises Perez.

Scores were 97-93 and 98-91 (twice) in favor of Diaz, who looks like a prospect to watch in a suddenly red-hot super featherweight division. 

An early night appeared to be in store when Diaz floored Perez midway through round one and again rocking him at the start of round two. Despite being overmatched, Perez never wilted and even managed to make a fight of it over the course of the second half of the televised-co-feature. 

It wasn't enough in the end, but still made for entertaining fanfare as Perez dips to 15-4 (7KOs), snapping a six-fight win streak. 

Diaz - who just turned 21 last December - advances to 19-0 (10KOs). 

Both bouts aired on TV Azteca in Mexico and beIN Sport Español in the United States. 

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox