Rodriguez Rocks to Victory

Posted on | October 5, 2009 | No Comments

By Bud Barth TELEGRAM & GAZETE STAFF
hbarth@telegram.com

LINCOLN, R.I. — Sometimes it can hurt so good. Just ask Edwin Rodriguez.

“He stunned me a couple of times, but I liked that,” bellowed Worcester’s rising middleweight back in his dressing room, after he had his head snapped back a few times by Darnell Boone’s troublesome right hand.

All it did, though, was provoke Rodriguez into getting back to his bread and butter — that long jab and those punishing body punches — and hammering out a unanimous eight-round decision over the annoying Boone in the main event of Jimmy Burchfield’s matinee card early last evening at Twin River Event Center.

The victory kept Rodriguez undefeated (12-0, 8 knockouts) as he cleared yet another hurdle — his first time going eight rounds — in his march toward a world title shot.

“It felt like it was a long fight, but I loved it — every single moment of it,” said Rodriguez, who had gone fewer than eight rounds combined in his previous three outings, all early TKOs.

Boone, who has been stopped just once in his career despite making a habit of challenging fighters with flashy records in their own backyards, dropped to 16-13-2 (6 KOs).

Two of the judges thought Rodriguez pitched a shutout (80-72), while the other gave Boone one round (79-73). The T&G scored it 78-74.

It’s only the second time in his pro career that Rodriguez has lost a round on a judge’s card, according to manager Larry Army.

“He made me a better fighter today, and that’s what we want,” Rodriguez said. “We want to keep learning so we can become world champion.”

Rodriguez, saying he “got a little winded” midway through the bout, hit a lull in the fourth round when Boone caught him with a left hand coming out of a clinch. Boone scored again late in the round with a nice combination.

The 5-foot-10, 160-pound Boone, who gave away five pounds and two inches to Rodriguez, also had a good sixth round. Rodriguez sprang toward him off the ropes and walked straight into a right hand. Boone later caught Rodriguez with a big right cross.

Other than that, the 24-year-old Rodriguez was the slicker and busier fighter.

“He was a tough opponent and he gave me what I was looking for — I was looking to see where I’ve got to improve,” Rodriguez said. “I made a couple of mistakes, like sticking my tongue out (in contempt). I did that before and nobody made me pay for it. This guy did, and I’m going to learn from that.”

Army was pleased by his fighter’s performance.

“He’s not just beating people, but he’s beating people easily,” Army said. “He’s starting to really come into his own as a boxer. He’s definitely moving in the right direction. I couldn’t be happier, to be honest with you. That was a great barometer today because that kid was so wily.”

Boone, 29, gave Rodriguez his due, saying, “He won the fight. I just was off. I wasn’t throwing enough punches.”

Rodriguez threw plenty, although he never appeared to stagger or even stun Boone.

“He didn’t have any power, and he never hurt me — not one time,” Boone said. “I had him hurt a few times and I never really capitalized off it, and I let him gain his composure back.”

Army said he’s hoping to get Rodriguez back in the ring in early November, possibly in an untelevised bout on the Nov. 7 HBO Championship Boxing card in Hartford.

Rodriguez had nine fights in his first year as a pro before slowing down due to elbow surgery.

“He’s definitely going to be busy again,” Army said. “We’re going to try to get him back to that pace because we think he’s ready to get to that next level, and the quicker we get him to 22-0, 23-0, the quicker we get him that world title fight, so we want to push the pace again. Plus, he’s much better when he’s fighting often.”

In the six-round junior middleweight co-feature, Demetrius Andrade of Providence (8-0, 6) scored an unfairly lopsided decision over Chris Chatman of San Diego (4-1, 2) in one of the most competitive, entertaining and free-swinging bouts of the year.

All three judges scored it for Andrade, 60-54, 59-55, 60-55. Afterward, though, Andrade looked exhausted as his handlers bathed his overheated body in ice. Chatman, who was called “a midget” by Andrade at the prefight press conference because he’s five inches shorter, was still lively as a doctor filled out a standard postfight report on him.

“I feel great,” he crowed. “I don’t need no mark on a piece of paper to know I won that fight.”