More Edwin news

Next fight is in Boston on Feb 8th


Rodriguez Prevails In Pro Debut!
* photo: Ed Rosa

In front of a major contingency of hometown fans who made up many of the 1200 fans in attendance this evening, the highly acclaimed, Edwin Rodriguez, of Worcester, MA launched his highly anticipated professional career with a first round technical knockout in a shot heard round the world! The victim, Samuel Ortiz Gomez, of Orlando, Florida, was the first of many to come according to Rodriguez’s excited corner.

From the bells first ring, the six foot tall and lanky 22 year old middleweight Rodriguez towered over Gomez, in height, reach, offense, and skill. Gomez on the hunt for his own first professional win after three tries came out focused and ready to duel. But Rodriguez was all business, focused, shifted into gear, and never stopped the onslaught until his challenger, as if to royalty, bowed and kneeled before him on the canvas in submission at 1:33 of the first round, the second knockdown of the round. The referee waived the fight off, and the crowd went wild!

After the fight, Rodriquez said, “I felt great, I worked hard for it. I believe the last body shot I threw ended the fight. I hit him early, and I didn’t think he had time to recuperate. I want to also thank all my fans for turning out, and thank my corner and management.”

His corner man, Carlos Garcia, a boxing icon in Central Massachusetts who has worked in the trenches of the amateur world for years with fighters from his stable including three time world champion Jose Antonio Rivera (38-6, 24 KOs) and Sean Fitzgerald (29-2, 11 KOs), stated after the fight that, “I thought his fight was beautiful. He was ready for anything. He was ready for the pros before, now he’s really matured. If Edwin stays in that line, there is no doubt in my mind that you witnessed a future world champ tonight!”

Garcia continued by saying, “To me, Edwin is like Jose (Rivera), with a beautiful heart, and he’s going to stay straight and right on. Edwin was sparring with a lot of people, including fighters from Peter Manfredo’s gym, some of the Worcester guys, and Edwin is in top, top shape. And I’ve got a great team, including manager, Larry Army, and Dave Turney, from New York, one of the best cut men in the sport, so I’ve got the team I want. If we do well in our next fight, on February 8th in Boston, we may have an opportunity to fight on the upcoming undercard at Madison Square Garden.”

Jose Antonio Rivera, former WBA light middleweight champ and WBA welterweight champ, who came to witness history, added that “I thought Edwin fought like a fighter who had ten or fifteen fights already. He was patient, kept his composure, didn’t get into a wild fight, paced his shot, and worked the body. You don’t see that from guys that just turned pro!”

Rodriguez achieved an amateur record of (84-9), and won the USA Boxing national championship for 2005, and the Golden Gloves national championship for 2006, both at the 160 pound mark.