A glimpse of what's going on in our personal life...

Worcester Telegram and Gazette
Sunday, December 30, 2007

Edwin recruits Army to fight his battles
BUD BARTH’S BOXING NOTES


(T&G Staff File Photo/PAUL KAPTEYN)
Worcester middleweight Edwin Rodriguez will make his pro debut as early as next month.


If Worcester middleweight Edwin Rodriguez had a nickel for every wannabe manager who came sniffing after him, he’d have… well, a whole bunch of nickels.

As it is, Rodriguez — a two-time national amateur champion (USA Boxing in 2005, Golden Gloves in ’06) — stands to make some real coinage, potentially millions of dollars, when his professional career kicks off, possibly as early as next month.

After being stewarded through the process by trainer Carlos Garcia and city attorney Maria Rivera-Ortiz, the sister of three-time world champion José Antonio Rivera of Auburn, Rodriguez is set to sign a three-year contract that will make Grafton lawyer Larry Army Jr. his manager.


The signing will occur “soon,” according to both sides, and end a hectic process of weeding through offers from about 20 national, regional and local candidates. They included Carl King, son of flamboyant promoter Don King, who has managed a whole stable of fighters, including Tim Austin, Ricardo Mayorga, Michael Dokes, Azumah Nelson, Frankie Randall, Tony Tubbs and Tim Witherspoon.

But Garcia, who has been with Rodriguez since the kid first strapped on boxing gloves six years ago, recommended that the 22-year-old fighter from the Dominican Republic go local to start off — partly because the bigger names wanted Rodriguez to commit for six years.

“Some of the contracts, they looked good, but they tied Edwin down for too long,” Garcia said. “They mean good, but we don’t know what the future’s going to bring. … We want to be a little free to do whatever. Edwin made the final decision.

“Eventually, we will sign with a promoter, some big name. We want to build a record first.”

Army is like an old, comfortable shoe to Rodriguez, who previously worked for the attorney at Sunset Mortgage in Auburn. Army now runs Weichert Realtors in Auburn and Lexington. “It’s a big relief for me,” said Rodriguez, who was 89-4 as an amateur. “It (the search) was pretty crazy. I had a lot of people telling me what to do, trying to get me off track and do something I’d probably regret later.

“He (Army) knows what he’s doing, and I’m just excited to work with him.”

The 37-year-old Army attended St. John’s High, graduating from Worcester Academy, Seton Hall University and Suffolk Law School. He doesn’t have any clients, but is a certified NBA player agent and following in the footsteps of his father, Larry Army Sr., who specialized in contract negotiations for 20 years, representing some of the “Temptations.”

Army was contacted four months ago about representing Rodriguez. “Actually, I was kind of surprised,” said Army, who had done some exhibition boxing and worked with the Worcester Police Gang Unit in its “Give Kids a Fighting Chance” program. “It (boxing management) wasn’t something I was looking to get into.”

And his objective now?

“I’m hoping to make him a world champion,” Army said. “I certainly think he has the talent to do that.”

Army took Rodriguez to Las Vegas recently for the blockbuster Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Ricky Hatton bout, which really opened the fighter’s eyes. Garcia said Rodriguez, who was working out regularly anyway, has been “training like a dog” since taking in that whole spectacle.

“Before, I was training but I really didn’t have a motive because I didn’t have a fight coming up. I had no motivation,” said Rodriguez, who will be paid a weekly salary by Army, plus fight purses. “Now that everything’s coming together, I have no time to fool around anymore. It’s all business now.”

The first pro bout for Rodriguez is set for Jan. 26 on a Peter Manfredo Sr. card in Mansfield, but matchmaker Frank Rohacik of Webster — another new member of the Rodriguez team — is still working on an opponent.

Rodriguez, who will be fighting at 160 pounds as a pro (165 was the amateur middleweight limit), currently weighs 173 and is “slowly coming down,” he said. Making weight used to be an issue, but Rodriguez has since hired a nutritionist.

“I didn’t have the right diet, I would eat whatever (I wanted), and the last two, three days, I would have to starve to make weight,” Rodriguez said. “Now I’m doing it the right way.”

Also serving on Rodriguez’s new team are Worcester’s Rocky Gonzalez, one of the best trainers around, and cut man Dave Tenney of New York, who worked with Rivera.

There’s a possibility that Rivera Promotions, the new company recently launched by the retired champion, will stage some early bouts for Rodriguez. That’s a lot of local flavor, which Garcia thinks is good.

“We don’t want to make any mistakes — we have to take it step by step,” Garcia said. “Eventually, we’re going to go big-time, but sometimes when you’re a small fish, they can eat you alive.”

Rodriguez’s bid to make the Olympic Trials for the 2008 Games ended with his controversial second-round loss to Dominic Wade in June at the USA Boxing Championships in Colorado Springs. Not wanting to carry that bitter defeat around with him forever, Rodriguez had two amateur bouts after that, most recently in November when he won a four-round decision over five-time national heavyweight champion Joey Montoya, an 18-year-old who was 12 pounds heavier.

Rodriguez was fighting for the Worcester Boxing Club and the Worcester Police Gang Unit in their annual charity tournament against the Aurora (Colo.) Police Boxing Club.

“It (the loss to Wade) is still pretty motivating to me,” Rodriguez said. “I didn’t want my last amateur fight to be a loss, but it’s still there. I could have been an Olympian. But I’m going pro now, I’ve got to move on. I’ll go for world titles now.”

At home, everything is good, too. Rodriguez and his wife-to-be, Stephanie Rapa, are fussing over their 15-month-old twins, Edwin Jr. and Serena, who are approaching 20 pounds each after being born four months prematurely on Sept. 29, 2006, at a frail 19 ounces apiece.

“They’re doing really good,” dad said. “They’ve come a long way from one pound.”

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And here is the fight promotional poster from his upcoming pro debut.


If anyone reads this who didn't get the mass email I sent out and who would like tickets, please feel free to email me. As you can see....we're VERY excited about this new chapter in our lives!

More Christmas pictures

Hello all...
Things appear to be getting better around here with regard to our colds. I still don't feel too great, and Edwin is still stuffy, is vomitting buggers, and has a cough, but hasn't had a fever and has slept through the night the past two nights. Beanie sounds stuffy but seems ok otherwise. Hopefully we are all better in a couple days....
Here are some more pics from Christmas Eve and Christmas!









Look at my baby girl standing unassisted!!!!








Christms Day

Uh oh...we're sick

Ughhhh...after a wonderful holiday, EJ and I are fighting a nasty cold. My poor man has spent the last 2 nights in bed with us and has had a fever, coughing, boogies, and just not feeling well. He has been super whiney which is so NOT him and has diffculty getting comfortable when falling asleep. We tried a neb treatment last night which usually doesn't help but it really cleared up his coughing and he slept better last night, although his fever came back during the night and I had to give him another dose of Motrin and Tylenol plus a cool cloth to bring it down. Serena has some boogies but not much and thankfully no fever and is her lively self. Edwin is eating pretty well thankfully and drinking his bottles...we're lucky he still eats well when sick. He has thrown up only twice and it was mostly boogers from the post nasal drip. We are not trying steroids yet, and hope to get through this without them, although we'll see how that goes. He is only at 250ccs, which isn't a huge increase since he is norally at 100. Of course I'm not doing time off until this passes, so no more cute no cannula pics :(
I realize we are very blessed when it comes to Serena and Edwin. We have avoided many of the very challenging affects of prematurity including oral aversion and other feeding issues. However, one thing I think will haunt us for awhile are respiratory issues, which really scares me. With his fever last night Edwin was breathing so quickly and sounded so crackily in his lungs. With Serena's floppy and narrow airway and the paralyzed vocal cord, her O2 needs can soar with a cold when she sleeps. Edwin just has very scarred lungs and I know even when he is off O2 24/7, we won't say goodbye to it for a looong time when colds hit.
Of course I feel guilty because I blame myself for exposing them to this cold. I think I got it and gave it to them although we seemed to get sick at the exact same time; of course there is no knowing. I want them to have a social life and enjoy family, so completely isolating them from people is not an option, although Maine was an exception, we usually only go to my Mom's, otherwise we're always home. We all wash our hands and do our best, but I work with kids and teens, and as much as I sanitize, got my flu shot, and wash up immediately upon coming home, I'm sure I bring in germs. They can't live in a bubble and I realize we do our best, but the guilt remains. I hate the thought of them struggling to breathe, and I really hope this cold passes quickly.
Otherwise all is well, and even with his cold, my guy sat this morning without bending forward with his hands on the floor. he sat up nice and tall with his hands resting on his thighs. I'm pretty sure I can offcially say he is now sitting, although he needs to work on catching himself when he does lose balance. I am extremely proud of the progress he's made. Serena is her curious lovable self, and seems to be learning things so fast lately. She likes to drop the balls into her toy and put the rings onto the cone toy. She is so snuggily and lovable and follows me around the entire house...I literally can't go to the bathroom without her coming in, pulling to stand on my leg, and hugging it for dear life. It's too cute.
Thankfully my mom watched the kids yesterday and we have a nurse today so I didn't have to take a sick time to stay home with the kids. We're very lucky in that respect, because otherwise I'd probably never have any sick time available. Thankfully I don't work fridays, and I took a vacation day monday, and Tuesday's a Holiday, so I'll have plenty of time to nurse the kids back to health. They consistently cry when I leave the house now though, which is really tough. I'm told they quickly get over it after a few seconds which is good.
Once things calm down at home I'll load and post the pictures from my camera and upload some video clips. Until then, stay healthy fellow preemie kids and preemie parents!

Christmas Eve pictures at Grammy and Grandpa's

We had a wonderful holiday, and hope you all did as well. Here are some of the pictures from Christmas Eve.
In exciting news, Edwin's sitting is progressing very well, and Serena stood without holding onto to anything for several seconds! She's also climbing up the stairs!
These are the pics from my mom's camera. I'll upload the ones from mine, including video of Serena standing unassisted and climbing up the stairs as soon as I have time!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2006





I just wanted to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas.
To all our family and friends who have been there since the day the first email went out about my delivery at 23 weeks, thank you so much for sticking by us in the best and worst of times. Thank you for your love and prayers...and most of all thank you for believing in Serena and Edwin.
To all my fellow micro preemie moms: Thank you so much for the support, advice, and for being a sounding board for the past 11 months. When I started blogging last Jan, I couldn't have imagined the invaluable resource you've been for me. Thank you for giving me the strength to be a better mom.
To everyone else who is interested in Serena and Edwin and reads this blog: Thank you for your interest in my children and for faithfully checking in on their amazing progress.
Last year Edwin was going through his "death spells", his last one was the 22nd, and I wasn't sure if my guy would even make it to Christmas. All I wanted for Christmas was for my two babies to get better and be able to come home.
This year, we have sooo much to be thankful for.

Here are pictures from our visit to Maine over the weekend. My aunt came up from Florida. The last time she saw S&E they were 1 month old and very sick. This was the same week we were told EJ had "close to a zero percent chance of survival" and Edwin and I had to think about ending support. She said she knew he was going to make it and gave us hope, even when I thought there was no way possible that he would get well. Both she and my grandmother came up, were there for his baptism and his PDA surgery in Boston. During this time Serena became septic and was put on antibiotics. Having them come up showed me how much they cared and really got me through one of their worst times in the NICU.
Of course my aunt was so excited to see them, as was all of our family...no one expect my grandfather had since them since the NICU days. We had a wonderful time visiting!






Look how far we've come...and yes, my boy is sitting...I didn't catch him once anytime he was sitting. He balanced himself without my intervening! My little princess on the other hand didn't want to sit by the end of my photo shoot and was far too interested in crawling over to inspect the camera. As you can see they both decided since Daddy didn't put that present under the tree, which is blocked now by a chair, the present was fair game and they began opening it.










And look at my two standing in their play area!






Tonight we go to Grammy's so I'll have even more pictures soon!