The 22-year-old starlet sent Rodriguez to the canvas with a thunderous right hook in the ninth round that would have stopped most opponents.

It summed up a night of patience and the most valuable test to date for one of boxing's brightest young talents as Dubois wore down the Mexican to emerge with another impressive victory and continue her journey towards world stardom.

The judges ruled the fight 98-89, 97-90 and 99-88 to extend Duboi's record to 8-0.

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"I think considering the circumstances, she was tough man," said Dubois. "She came out swinging. Even when I dropped her, she really wanted it and that was what exactly what I needed.

"I think it was my career best performance in the ring, but there's so much more for me to give. I really wanted the knockout, as you can tell.

"I'm 22. What's going to be happy when I'm 25, 26? I'm going to start knocking these girls spark out, I promise you."

Dubois eased into the early exchanges as she sought to find her distancing, being pulled up by Marcus McDonnell for a couple of near-low blow shots in what signified a clear focus on working the body of Rodriguez.

Once she raised her target a couple of inches, Dubois began to trouble the Mexican in the third with a fierce right upper cut and left hook to the torso.

She switched it up in the fourth by unleashing a flurry of sharp combinations to the head of Rodrigues, who absorbed a crashing right hand to the face while struggling to navigate the southpaw stance.

Rodriguez began to apply some pressure of her own at the end of the fifth, only to be sent to the canvas in the sixth after being wobbled by a thumping right hook before eventually falling under the third shot of another blistering Dubois combination.

Rodriguez showed her experience by spitting out her gum-shield while on the canvas, buying herself some extra time as McDonnell called a timeout that would enable her to survive until the end of the round.

She responded by adopting a more conservative approach in the next two rounds, Dubois growing slightly frustrated at the sight of her opponent holding and crouching to try and disrupt the rhythm of the fight.

"That's what I said. She's going to be a veteran in that ring," said Dubois. "She's going to know how to get through the rounds and survive. She was spinning around. She was literally trying to pull my pants down at one point.

"She was dropping on the floor, spitting the gum. She was doing everything. I was just so frustrated that I was allowing that to happen and the referee was allowing that to happen."

The decisive moment arrived in the ninth when Rodriguez was sent tumbling by a bruising right hand, miraculously getting back to her feet before going down again while off-balance in a trade off at the ropes.

She then showed tremendous heart to let her hands go in a desperate effort to see out the round, as much threatening to reap reward in the 10th when Rodriguez appeared to catch Dubois in a wild exchange during the closing seconds.

But it was always Dubois's night, Britain's rising star logging a mature display against a battle-tested and experienced operator to reiterate her credentials as one of the most disruptive fighters in women's boxing over the coming years.

"I'm just so happy for her. She's grown so much in a year. In the last couple of years in the gym, she's just progressing all the time," said trainer Shane McGuigan.

"She had it all in that fight. She got hit with a couple of clean shots with the small gloves on. She adjusted to different tactics and she got the knock downs.

"I'm so impressed and so proud."