By Jake Donovan

Ricardo Rodriguez picked up his third straight notable win on Telemundo, upending local favorite Daniel Lozano via majority decision Friday evening at A La Carte Pavilion in Tampa, Florida.

One judge had it 95-95 even, but was overruled by more sensible cards of 97-93 and 98-92 in favor of Rodriguez, a Mexixo-born fighter now based out of Los Angeles. 

Fans at the standing-room-only-A La Carte Pavilion hoping for a fight were instead forced to watch a boxing match break out The 10 round-bout played similarly to recent performances from both fighters. 

Rodriguez was effective in his stick-and-move style, avoiding the very type of slugfest that has come to be expected in the recurring Puerto Rico vs. Mexico theme often found in Central Florida-based fights on Telemundo. Lozano struggled to maintain pace, not unlike the issues with which he was met in his loss to David Carmona earlier this year. 

The fight was all in the bag until the final 90 seconds or go. Hopelessly down on all three scorecards, Lozano—who hails from Bowling Green, Florida—went all in down the stretch, briefly rocking Rodriguez with head shots, but never to the point of producing a dramatic come-from-behind knockout. 

His late surge as well as his landing the more telling blows whenever electing to let his hands go allowed Lozano to surprisingly pull even on one scorecard. It was generous scoring, however, as the diminutive slugger once again simply wasn't active enough over the long haul, while Rodriguez fought for the most part like a man on a mission.

That very level of boxing provided the visiting boxer—who turns 26 on Sunday—with his third straight win on the road and overall. Rodriguez improves to 12-2 (4KOs), with the victory coming on the heels of his 7th round knockout of Jonathan Vidal in this very venue in March and a 10-round decision over previously unbeaten Edwin Rodriguez (no relation) last October in Kissimmee. 

Lozano suffers his second straight defeat, falling to 13-3 (10KOs) overall. All three career losses have come within his last five fights, and all airing live on Telemundo.

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