Delvin Rodriguez Slips By Shamone Alvarez

In a battle between welterweight contenders from the East Coast it was Delvin Rodriguez’s 11th round knockdown that proved the difference in beating Shamone Alvarez on Friday.

Fans at the Mohegan Sun Casino and those watching the welterweight showdown on ESPN2 saw Rodriguez (24-2-2) pull a victory from defeat by grinding it out the last half of the fight against Alvarez.

Alvarez (20-2) jumped out ahead with his southpaw stance and long sweeping punches to befuddle and score frequently against the taller Rodriguez.

With his stand up counter-punching style Rodriguez just couldn’t seem to time the unorthodox style of Alvarez who took many of the early rounds with more punches and harder blows.

It was in the eighth round that Rodriguez kicked it into another two gears behind a stiff left jab. In the previous rounds he was gingerly poking the left hand out there and paying the consequence by eating return left hands down the pipe. But he found the ramrod jab and it began paying off.

After two rounds of more aggressiveness, Rodriguez caught Alvarez with a right hand followed by a sweeping left in the 11th round and dropped his opponent for the 10-8 round that prove the difference in victory according to two judges.

One judge scored it 115-112 and two judges scored it 114-113, all for Rodriguez. TSS scored it 114-113 for Rodriguez too. That knockdown proved the difference in the fight.

In the semi-main event Ray “Tito” Serrano (9-0, 5 KOs) proved he’s no Tito Trinidad with a very ordinary victory against New Orlean’s boxer Jay Krupp (12-2, 5 KOs) after six rounds of a welterweight bout.

Serrano knocked down Krupp in the first round, but even the knockdown seemed more push than punch. Though he did rock Krupp, had Serrano not given a push with a missed left hook, the lanky New Orleans fighter probably would not have touched the canvas. But it still counted as a knockdown.

For the next five rounds Serrano did his beat to knock out Krupp. Many times he took return fire but overall, it was speed that proved his advantage, not power.

After six rounds one judge saw it 58-55 and the other two 60-53.

U.S. Olympian Demetrius Adrade (3-0), whose last name was continually mispronounced, won an easy victory over Tom Joseph (4-2-1) in a junior middleweight fight. Referee Dick Flaherty stopped the fight 1:53 left in the opening round.

Though Joseph was never wobbled or seemingly dazed, the referee looked anxious to find a reason to halt the contest. One thing for sure, Andrade has no power. He’s still in an amateur slapping mode, but it’s very early for him.

It would be great to see him compete against fellow Olympian Shawn Estrada who is going to campaign at the same weight class. It would save one promoter a lot of money in expenses to find out who is worth keeping.