Worcester Magazine article

EDWIN "LA BOMBA" RODRIGUEZ GETS READY TO EXPLODE
Written by Scott Zoback
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
BOOM!

By Scott Zoback

The man heralded as Worcester’s Next Great Hope is tired. His legs are sore from training, his family is at home sick, and he just got out of church. He rests his head on his hands like a bored teenager waiting for class to end, and listens to the conversation going on around him.

But then the talk turns to boxing and everything changes. The Next Great Hope’s shoulders lift, his eyes focus and glow, and his entire body looks like he’s ready to go ten rounds.

Middleweight Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez is at last comfortable.


Stories about boxers, whether they’re up-and-comers or fighters on the tail end of their career, are generally hyperbolic affairs, filled with winding roads, drama, and a lot of talk about overcoming the odds. Boxing, more than any other sport, attracts characters of all kinds; a P.T. Barnum level of exaggeration is a natural extension.

So you can be forgiven if you think the story of Edwin Rodriguez sounds, at least on the surface, a bit familiar. Image

Let’s review: Young guy immigrates to Worcester from the Dominican Republic when he’s just a kid. Boxes with his brothers in the basement, maybe scuffles on the street a few times. Finds his way to a Boys & Girls Club gym where a coach, himself a product of the streets, sees some serious promise. Coach convinces the kid’s father that boxing will keep him off the street. Kid boxes his way through the next few years, and ends up winning two national championships, winning nearly 90 amateur fights. He goes pro, runs his record to 8-0 with five knockouts within a year, and is heralded by those close to him as the next world champion.

And so on.

Except this story isn’t generic and Rodriguez isn’t the same character checking off the same clichéd plot points. There’s his late start by boxing standards — he was already 16. And there are his young twins, born prematurely, one who undergoes serious physical therapy on a near daily basis to compensate for cerebral palsy. There’s his dedication to them and to their mother, his fiancé, to the point where he misses the Olympic Trials, his dream, in order to take care of them right after they’re born. There’s his love of chess and his return to college so he can study to be a math teacher.

But, above all that, there’s Rodriguez’s love of boxing.

The man who would be king

In conversation, Rodriguez has a confident humbleness. He hits all the right speaking points; “I just gotta work hard,” is a favorite phrase. A good deal of that attitude has clearly been beaten into him by his manager Larry Army Jr., a fact they both joke about. It’s a cocksure attitude with a heavy dose of an “aw-shucks” mentality.

If not cocky, there’s a clear self-assurance that gushes from Rodriguez. He’s good at what he does — really good — and he knows it. He wants to be world champion, but half-jokes his other long-term goal is to be featured in “Fight Night,” the popular boxing video game series. But not the next edition, he is sure to point out, that would be too soon, too arrogant. The edition after that, however would be perfectly ok. This is a boxer who told Charter TV 3 earlier this year that one of his goals was to be “one of the greatest fighters of all time,” and tells us it’s to be “one of the greatest middleweights of all time.” For a weight class that has featured Sugar Ray Robinson, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, Bernard Hopkins, Roberto Duran, Roy Jones Jr., Jake LaMotta, and Oscar De La Hoya, that’s a lofty goal.

Rodriguez and his team aren’t phased.

As a fighter, Rodriguez is universally described as a boxer-puncher. He’s a lanky 6’1, with good movement, good reflexes, and fast hands. “He has the frame to move around ... also has what it takes to stand in there and punch,” says local matchmaker Frank Rohacik, who has arranged fights for Rodriguez among many others. That said, “he’s not a guy who’s going to take you out in one shot ... [he] wears you down.”

Rodriguez loves boxing, but he is clear about why he’s able to make a career out of it: he’s got a flair for showmanship.

“You got to make it fun for the people. They want to see a fight, I’ll give them one.”

Rodriguez has done that in all eight professional fights so far, winning five by knockout. He’s only been truly challenged in his past two fights, one against Hector Hernandez, and one against Marcus Upshaw. Rodriguez calls the Hernandez fight his toughest test yet, and Army allows that it exposed some weaknesses for Rodriguez to work on. Of course, Army also says that’s why they set up the fight in the first place.

Rohacik says that those fights were good tests to see what Rodriguez is made of. For the first time as a pro, he says, Rodriguez faced competition that came in needing a win, and thinking they were going to win.

And he came out on top.

How good is he?

In a sport built on embellishment and exaggeration, it’s notoriously hard to get an honest assessment of a fighter at Rodriguez’s level, as everyone has an ulterior motive — either promoting the hell out of him, or trying to push their own guy. It’s why young fighters routinely pad their records against clearly inferior competition, racking up undefeated records before facing anyone of note. And, at first glance, Rodriguez fits the mold, having fought to 8-0 at a blistering speed. His first six opponents had a combined record of 18-44-4.

Rohacik acknowledges that “you’re never going to put him in at this point in his career if he doesn’t have the edge.”

On the other hand, manager Larry Army Jr. points out, Rodriguez’s team, including chief trainer Peter Manfredo Sr. would hardly be involved if they didn’t think the boxer had the talent to go far. And by all accounts, the majority of Rodriguez’s opponents — even those with losing records — have hardly been chumps.

Rodriguez’s other trainer, Carlos Garcia, is clear in his assessment. After shepherding Rodriguez to this point from the time he was a teen, Garcia says without hesitation, “He’s one of the best.”

Garcia, who has trained three-time World Champion Jose Antonio Rivera, 4-time amateur champion Bobby Harris, and seen more “promising” young boxers walk through his doors than anyone else in the area, says it was quickly apparent to him that Rodriguez was a talent, before Rodriguez himself even had a clue. “After a year, I knew he was going to go places.”

Rodriguez says it took him a bit longer. “I think I had talent, and I was winning my fights ... by the time I realized it, I was on the national team and one of the best in the country.”

What makes him special? It’s not just his talent, says Garcia; there are plenty of talented kids who come to his gym and either burn out, lose focus, or fade away. It was Rodriguez’s attitude that pushed him apart from his peers, despite his late start.

“He never said no to a fight, even if he was sick,” says Garcia. Actually, that’s a bit of an understatement. Rodriguez never even told Garcia if he was sick, knowing Garcia would pull him out of a fight.

Rohacik voices a similar opinion. “[He has a] great work ethic ... he loves nothing more than getting in the ring and fighting. His mindset is the type it takes to go a long way. He has a good mind for the game.”

It’s hard to describe that mindset, but Rodriguez tries.



For one, there’s his love of fighting, of being in the ring. “That’s where I feel safe,” he says.

Garcia says he’s always been that way, that as a teen, he had to be convinced to work out instead of just sparring. And when he did spar, he constantly tried to go without head gear in the ring because he was too used to boxing without it on the streets.

Then, there’s the work he’s willing to put in. Rodriguez’s training regimen would make Ivan Drago shudder.

Rodriguez does cardio work virtually every morning; running sub-3-minute half-mile circuits up to four times, Garcia reports. A sub-six minute mile? Cakewalk.

Then there’s the afternoon drive to the boxing gym in Pawtucket six days a week, followed Monday, Wednesday and Friday by a grueling session with strength coach Graeme Prue.

Yet, training for boxing is an easy game for Rodriguez. “I just show up,” he says, to do what he is told.

It’s a similar attitude on fight day.

Rodriguez displays an unnatural calmness before his fights. Like any boxer, he loves to talk about how the training is the real work, how once he’s in the ring it’s all easy and just calling on weeks and months of preparation. But for a young fighter with the pressures of raising a family on his shoulders, Rodriguez seems almost totally at ease. He admits the most difficult part of fighting is the long day between the weigh-in and the first bell; aside from that, he’s in his comfort zone.

Garcia is so confident in his fighter’s physical and mental capacities, he repeatedly declares that Rodriguez will be a world champion within two years. That’s heady stuff for a guy whose initial plans included fighting in the Beijing Olympics over the summer, and going pro sometime this fall.

Rodriguez acknowledges the pain of missing the Olympics, but views it as an opportunity. “If I had just come up out of the Olympics right now ... I wouldn’t be starting 8-0. They have to play catch up with me. I do wish I was an Olympian, but I’m happy where I’m at right now,” he says.

The game plan

Two or three years until a world championship may seem ambitious, but Army says it’s all part of the pre-set road map.

Part one of the plan is how Rodriguez is being prepared. He has two boxing coaches, a manager, a nutritionist, and a strength and conditioning coach making up the core of his team. “No one who is 6 or 7 and 0 has that kind of information,” brags Army. In truth, it’s a huge team that is requires a huge investment on Army’s part, and is usually only seen for more established contenders.

On the fight side, Army’s plan is to have Rodriguez fight again twice in the next three months, including a shot at a junior championship by the end of the year.

Rohacik says it’s that plan that may make the goal a reality.

“I really think everything has been done by the people around him. They’ve done everything the right way [by] bringing him along with the right type of fights he needs at this point in his career,” he says.

Compared to the other amateurs around the country who went pro at the same time, says Rohacik, Rodriguez is “stepping up more.”

“He could be fighting easier guys,” he notes. “In fact, most people would probably have him on an easier course. He’s getting more experience against better people at an early part of his career, and that’s a positive, as long as he’s winning every fight.”

Army agrees. “He’s ahead of schedule. The last two fights especially were fights most 6-0 guys don’t take. We’ve fought very tough kids...the only way we’re going to uncover weaknesses is to get rounds.”

Still, Rodriguez is on an unconventional road by not agreeing to sign on with a promoter early in his career. Army says it’s all been part of the plan, even if it has reportedly made it harder to get Rodriguez bouts at times. After all, no one goes into a fight hoping to lose, and Rodriguez makes a tough opponent. Without a contracted promoter to help out, it can make it tough to find fights, thus forcing Rodriguez’s team to look outside the region.

“We knew we wouldn’t have people banging down the door,” says Army. “We’re trying to break the mold here.”

Rodriguez choosing Army over established managers such as Don King’s son Carl was clear evidence of that.

As Rodriguez’s stature explodes, so do the calls from the top promoters, including Top Rank, Warrior, Golden Boy, and Irish Ropes.

Not that anything is a guarantee. As much as Rohacik thinks Rodriguez has a legitimate chance to be a champion, he knows there’s a huge element of luck involved.

“That’s a goal they should have ... [but ] it’s too early to say. It’s looking very promising, but it’s still early in his career.”


Locally known

Like Rivera before him, Rodriguez tries to pay his respects to his roots as much as possible. He still trains occasionally at the Boys & Girls Club, and says on cue, “I have a good connection to Worcester, and stay close to where I came from.”

But as much as Rodriguez gives props to the local scene and his local roots, the truth is, at some point, to make the jump to the level he wants, he’ll have to look at the bigger picture.

For Rodriguez, that transition has come sooner than some expected, and has meant some growing pains.

Earlier this year, a minor controversy erupted when Rodriguez committed to then backed off fighting on the undercard of Rivera’s one-time comeback fight, the first fight Rivera promoted under his new company. It caused a stir in the local boxing scene, and Army admits it wasn’t a popular decision. “You try to balance your goal of becoming a champion, with making people happy. And the opportunity presented itself that night,” says Army, citing the bigger crowd and the national press Rodriguez got fighting in Boston.

Rodriguez acknowledges the transition has been a “little tough.”

Down the road Image

There’s nothing worse than watching a boxer who should have quit long ago trying to slug it out for one more shot of glory. And with such a short active lifespan in the ring, you almost have to know when you want to quit before you start.

“My goal is to get my family comfortable, then [box] for the hell of it. I hope I know when to quit,” says Rodriguez. “This is who I am, what I love.

“I don’t want to be 40 [and fighting] ... but maybe 38.”

But Rodriguez isn’t looking ahead that far. Yet. As he’s walking away from an interview, he’s sure to point out his e-mail address: “thenextchamp.” It’s hard to tell if he wants a quick “hi” down the road or just wants to point out one more time, in that slightly subtle manner that his goal is clear.

“It’s the power of self-persuasion,” quips Army.

Or maybe it’s just confidence.