The last thing Brian Norman Jr. wanted was to go the distance in a second straight fight Friday night.

That didn’t happen, but the hard-hitting welterweight prospect didn’t get the type of victory over Flavio Rodriguez that he wanted in his “ShoBox” debut. The 19-year-old Norman won their scheduled eight-rounder by technical unanimous decision because Rodriguez suffered a cut early in the seventh round that prevented him from continuing at Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minnesota.

Judges John Mariano (68-65), Patrick Morley (68-85) and Tim Taggart (69-64) each scored their fight for Norman.

Atlanta’s Norman (17-0, 14 KOs, 1 NC) had won 88 percent of his pro bouts by knockout entering their fight Friday night. Los Angeles’ Rodriguez (9-2-1, 7 KOs) hasn’t been knocked out in 12 professional fights.

Fans weren’t permitted to attend the card Friday night as a precaution to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The heads of Norman and Rodriguez came together about 30 seconds into the seventh round. Rodriguez suffered a long, laceration between his eyes, which caused him to yell and turn away from Norman with 2:27 to go in the seventh.

A ringside physician stopped their fight due to that cut 57 seconds into the seventh round.

A right uppercut by Norman snapped back Rodriguez’s head with just over a minute to go in the sixth round. A left hook and then a straight right by Norman also landed just before the sixth round concluded.

Norman and Rodriguez traded hard body and head shots during the middle minute of the fifth round. Norman backed Rodriguez into the ropes later in the fifth, when he hit Rodriguez with a combination to the body and a hard right to his head.

Rodriguez drilled Norman with a picture-perfect right hand in the third round. Norman wasn’t hurt, though that shot caught him flush.

Rodriguez tried trading with Norman early in the second round, when Norman hit him with a left to the body, two rights up top and shoved him backward a few times. Rodriguez backed up Norman later in the second round, but a right hand by Norman got Rodriguez’s attention just before the second round ended. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.