Daddy's a Star!

Sunday, February 22, 2009
Rodriguez’s future in DiBella’s hands

Bud Barth Boxing
hbarth@telegram.com

Edwin Rodriguez talks with his new promoter, Lou DiBella, during Thursday’s press conference at Mechanics Hall. (T&G Staff/TOM RETTIG)
Promoter Lou DiBella knows a little something about champions, having paraded several of them under his DiBella Entertainment banner, including Jermaine Taylor, Ike Quartey, Andre Berto, Kermit Cintron and Paulie Malignaggi.

His latest protégé, Worcester middleweight Edwin Rodriguez, isn’t quite in that class yet, but DiBella says to be patient.

“Give me 18 months,” DiBella said on Thursday, “and I think this kid will be ready for anybody in the world.”

Flowery praise and hyperbole were as abundant as cauliflower ears at Thursday’s press conference, where more than 100 people — including fighters from all eras — crowded into Mechanics Hall’s historic Washburn Hall for the announcement that DiBella had signed a promotional deal with Rodriguez.

It also was announced that the New York promoter will put on a March 19 event at Mechanics Hall, where Rodriguez will make his pro hometown debut, hence the show’s headline, “Homecoming.”

Rodriguez (10-0, 6 knockouts) didn’t actually sign the contract until a few days ago, but the deal was sealed in January when the 23-year-old Dominican native bounced mismatched super middleweight Brad Austin up and down off the canvas four times on his way to a third-round TKO at a DiBella show in Biloxi, Miss.

Next up is next month’s eight-rounder at Mechanics Hall. Rodriguez’s opponent, and the rest of the card, should be announced sometime this week, DiBella said.

As for details of the deal, they’re being guarded pretty tightly, especially the financial terms. Rodriguez manager Larry Army Jr. of Grafton said a confidentiality clause prevents him from disclosing figures, except to say that “a substantial signing bonus” was part of the three-year deal, which also includes a one-year option for DiBella.

“I don’t want to get into figures,” DiBella said when pressed about the size of the signing bonus. “It’s not the bonus that the contract’s about; what the contract’s about is fairness of the purses and the frequency that he fights. He got a bonus, but that’s his business.

“I consider him to be one of the very best prospects in the country — like I said, on a par (with) or better than the (2008) Olympians. He’s going to be treated very fairly and paid very fairly.”

Rodriguez’s dream of making the 2008 Olympics fizzled when he lost at the 2007 USA Boxing Championships and the National Golden Gloves, where he had won national titles in 2005 and ’06, respectively. Those were his last two tickets to the Olympic Trials.

The previous October, Rodriguez skipped the Police Athletic League nationals — the first Olympic Trials qualifier — when his fiancée, Stephanie Rapa, unexpectedly gave birth four months prematurely to 19-ounce twins. Edwin Jr. and Serena, now healthy and almost 2-1/2, were born the day Rodriguez was to leave for the PAL championships in Oxnard, Calif.

As for TV, DiBella said not to expect Rodriguez on ESPN fights very often because “they don’t pay their fighters very well,” but Rodriguez might be on undercards of HBO and Showtime telecasts. DiBella also said fans can expect to see Rodriguez on “ShoBox,” the Showtime vehicle for up-and-coming fighters, “within four to six fights.”

DiBella said the problem is pitting the right fighters against Rodriguez. Like Goldilocks’ bed, they can’t be too soft or too hard. He said a match between Rodriguez and Buddy McGirt Jr. is “certainly possible.”

“You have to be careful (matchmaking),” admitted DiBella, saying Rodriguez may need some “elective surgery” down the line, but nothing major.

“He’s beaten quality opposition already, but you don’t want to get carried away and escalate his career too quickly. Boxing’s a very unforgiving business. The wrong move is … potentially irreversible. Thank God, I tend to have a good sense about how to develop a kid.”

As for the three-year contract, here are some details gleaned from official and unofficial sources:

•A minimum of seven fights the first year (the Biloxi fight was the first), five fights the second year, and four fights the third year. Minimum bouts don’t apply if Rodriguez becomes a world champion.

•There are minimum purses for six-, eight- and 10-round fights, which increase for TV fights on a scale with ESPN at the bottom and Showtime/HBO at the top. Minimums also increase if Rodriguez is a world champion, or fighting for a championship, or if he’s ranked in the top 10 by the WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF or Ring magazine.

•Training expenses are paid for all world championship fights.

•There is no weekly or monthly stipend for Rodriguez, but his signing bonus reportedly fell just short of a six-figure windfall.
END


And my email to the author:

Hi Bud,

This is Edwin Rodriguez's fiance, Stephanie Rapa. I want to thank you for all the coverage you have been doing for Edwin over the years, and particularly recently as he moves up the ranks as a pro. It means a lot for family, friends, and the community to read up on how Edwin is doing. We all really appreciate it.

I just wanted to mention something that you probably aren't aware of because Edwin doesn't always tell people about it. In your article you mentioned the twin's premature birth, but how they are now healthy 2 1/2 year olds. While this is somewhat true, the reality is their premature birth has continued effects on their health. Serena was in the Intensive Care Unit for a week in December with a respiratory cold that had her back on oxygen and a lot of medications. Because of his premature birth, Edwin, Jr. has cerebral palsy and cannot walk or stand independently. He wears braces on his legs and is learning to walk with a walker. He is also developmentally delayed, just learning a few words recently, and he does use sign language to communicate as well. They have weekly physical, occupational, speech, and early intervention, as well as continued appointments with the pulmonologist (lung doctor), neurologist for Edwin (brain doctor), developmental team, eye doctor (Edwin and Serena will likely need glasses soon, a side effect of their Retinopathy of Prematurity...what made Stevie Wonder blind..he was a preemie), and Serena sees an ENT (ear, nose, and throat doctor) in Boston for her paralyzed vocal cord (a side effect of necessary heart surgery she had when she weighed only a pound..they snipped her vocal cord nerve during the surgery.) She can talk but had issues with aspiration and had surgery for it last summer.

I could go on and on.

There are two reasons for me sharing this. One is I have made a commitment to educate the public on the realities of extremely premature birth. The media (not you, but nationally) tend to paint preemies as "small babies" who go on be "normal." The ultimate "miracle story." While I certainly see Edwin and Serena as miracles, they, and almost all their micro preemie peers do not walk away from extreme prematurity (23 weeks-26 weeks) unscathed. In fact, Edwin and Serena statistically were guaranteed to have medical and developmental needs based on their gestational age, which is why Edwin and I were consulted and had to decide whether to seek treatment (resuscitation) or allow them to pass away in our arms. I want the public to understand the truth about extreme prematurity; even within our close family and friends, some do not understand why Edwin, Jr isn't walking or talking, and if the public had more awareness of what it means to be born so premature they would understand that the twins were at risk for much more. Many children are blind, deaf, cannot eat by mouth, have severe cerebral palsy and use a wheelchair, severe cognitive impairment, sensory issues, autism, etc.

Other than my mission of spreading prematurity awareness, I also think it's important to highlight just how much Edwin was dealing with during the Olympic Qualifiers, and what he continues to face as a professional fighter. He has to balance being a committed fighter, training many hours a day, with being there for his children. He comes with me every Friday to do aquatic therapy with our son at the Greendale Y with a wonderful physical therapist, Peter Cornetta. He makes sure that everyone knows that he can't train at that time because he's committed to helping Edwin, Jr gain as much muscle as possible, so that hopefully some day he will walk. I could go on about how challenging it is for Edwin to be there for the kids and also dedicate his life to his sport.

I hope this gives you a little insight (or a lot! lol) into our lives. One of my greatest wishes would be to find a "cure" for preterm birth (we still have no idea why I went into preterm labor), and that all babies would be born healthy and at term. I don't want to continue to spread the myth that babies are born early and then go on to be "healthy." We are extremely proud of Serena and Edwin, Jr and I don't want to deny the struggles they faced and continue to face. Their perseverance and courage is truly amazing and I want to acknowledge that.

Thanks Bud. As you can see, I'm a little passionate about this!
END

And just because they are the cutest..here they are!