SOLIHULL, England — Galal Yafai's dream of fighting for the unified flyweight world titles in Japan was completely shattered after receiving a one-sided beating from grizzled veteran Francisco Rodriguez Jr across 12 brutal rounds in Birmingham.

The fight topped a Matchroom card which took place at the BP Pulse Live Arena and streamed live on DAZN.

Before the fight, all the talk was about a potential shot at WBC and WBA 112-pound champion Kenshiro Teraji, The Ring's pound-for-pound No. 9 fighter, in Japan later this year.

But by the end of the fight, all of that talk had been emphatically quashed by Rodriguez Jr, a former strawweight world champion who went the distance with both Junto Nakatani and Kazuto Ioka at junior bantamweight.

The final scores read 119-108, 119-108 and 118-109, all in favour of Rodriguez Jr.

As soon as the fight had begun, Yafai looked completely overwhelmed with what was coming his direction. He was rocked in the first minute by a short left hook as both men tussled for the centre of the ring and for the rest of the round he hung on like his life depended on it.

The Mexican veteran was making his mark early and Yafai, who had, to this point, had it all his own way in the pro game, was being given a ruthless introduction to the world stage in front of his home fans.

The 2nd round saw Yafai rocked to his boots once again after Rodriguez Jr connected with a thunderous right hand. Yafai also received a cut above his left eye after a clash of his heads. The frantic pace continued in the 3rd, where Rodriguez Jr made it his personal mission to unsettle Yafai with shots from all angles and head movement that sullied the Brit's attempt to control range with the jab.

"Stay calm, Galal," yelled Yafai's trainer Rob McCracken. The Olympic gold-medalist finally found a home for his left hand in the 4th, landing a shot which bounced right off the skull of Rodriguez Jr, only for it to have no effect on the 48-fight warrior.

Rodriguez Jr got straight back on the offensive in the 5th round, landing a thudding left hook before doing the same with his right, Yafai, however, looked accustomed to his opponent's power by that point, but he was still losing rounds.

A cut had opened up above the left eye of Rodriguez Jr in round 6, which both men used to display every ounce of courage they had in their lockers. Rodriguez Jr continued to land hard and often, but Yafai wouldn't wilt; he would instead come back with lefts and rights of his own. Whether they were leaving their mark on the visitor was another question.

In the 7th, Rodriguez Jr cranked up the pressure, just like he did in the opening round. Yafai's legs would turn to jelly after receiving a thunderous left to the side of the head. Though Yafai would hit the canvas, referee Mark Bates erroneously ruled it a slip. When Yafai got back to his feet, Rodriguez Jr pounced again, landing clubbing shot after clubbing shot, but Yafai reached the end of the round without tasting canvas for a second time.

The 8th brought more brutality for Yafai, who by this point already looked like he needed a knockout. His legs, however, were back, and with that came his ability to dodge at least some of the firepower coming his way.

Before the 9th could start, the doctor would take a look at Yafai's cut before ruling it fine to continue on with. His check on Rodriguez Jr's cut took longer, and the nerves could be sensed from his corner before he, too, was allowed to continue.

Three minutes later, Yafai looked out on his feet again after taking several straight rights to his unprotected chin. Once again, he made it to the end of the round, only to come out for the 10th to face the same barrage.

Yafai looked completely spent and his chance to fight for a world title in Japan against a pound-for-pound star had gone up in smoke, but still he would remain on his feet. Reaching the end of the fight would be a moral victory, for the chance to win on the cards had disappeared.

While the 11th was once again a painful endeavour for Yafai to endure, the real pain came in the final round, as he was finally dropped after a relentless flurry of left and rights from Rodriguez Jr landed clean on Yafai's chin.

Up he got agan but the fight had been completely and utterly beaten out of him, and after nearly falling out of the ring following another attack, Yafai had made it to the final bell, without the victory he craved so much.

A bloody mess in the corner, with despondent brother Gamal behind him, Yafai could only wince as scores which read 119-108, 119-108, 118-109 were called out.

For Rodriguez Jr, a shot at title glory beckons once again, for Yafai, questions over what he will do with his short career, having told The Ring of his concern with losing at this level, will linger.