Middleweight prospect Edwin
Rodriguez passes another test in Biloxi
January 22, 2009
WORCESTER, Mass. (January 22, 2009) –
Unbeaten middleweight prospect Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez received a B+
grade from his head trainer, Peter Manfredo, Sr., for the 2-time
national amateur champion’s performance last Saturday night against
veteran “Bad Ass” Brad Austin (8-6, 2 KOs) at the Beau Rivage Resort
Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.
In his first scheduled 8-round bout, Rodriguez floored Austin four times
en route to a third-round stoppage of Austin on the off-televised
portion of the HBO card, headlined by the Andre Berto-Luis Collazo WBC
welterweight title fight.
“I was happy with my performance but I feel I could have done better,”
Rodriguez said. “I hurt him in the first round and felt I should have
stopped him then. But I got antsy trying to take him out. I went back to
using the short punches that had hurt him. I just got caught up in the
moment. I hurt him a few more times and I knew the knockout was coming.
I just had to stop looking for it. I made a mistake but learned from it
and that’s important. I was really excited to fight after working so
hard for four months. All of the hard worked paid-off; I was able to
perform the way I’m supposed to.”
The Dominican Republic-born Rodriguez (9-0, 6 KOs), fighting out of
Worcester (MA), had taken four months off to concentrate on training and
his imporvements showed in the ring. “He accomplished a lot of things
that we worked on,” Manfredo said. “He’s really becoming a good pro
fighter, switching over from a good amateur. He used his jab well, not
only to set-up combinations, but to keep his opponent off balance.
Austin had a good amateur background, eight wins as a pro, and his
losses were to some good fighters. But he could never muster a threat
against Edwin. He tried to take away Edwin’s jab in the second round by
throwing wide right hooks, but Edwin adjusted with some good
check-hooks. He fought a very good fight. Defensively, he was much
better, not pulling away standing straight up. I give him a B+. I was
extremely pleased with the outcome and what he did in the ring.”
Rodriguez’ manager, Larry Army, agreed 100-percent with Manfredo’s
assessment. “Edwin looked great,” he commented. “Everything he worked on
for those four months, he put together. I had seen streaks of brilliance
and loads of potential from Edwin, but he had never put it all together
in one fight until last Saturday night. He showed everybody a glimmer of
what he can do in the future. This was the right show for us against a
tough opponent. It was a great opportunity for Edwin, who picked apart
Austin from the start. We’re hoping Edwin will be back in action at the
end of February.” Source/PR - Bob Trieger
