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Edwin Rodriguez Headlines In Mass. On Saturday

Published

9 years ago

August 18, 2011

WORCESTER, Mass. (August 18, 2011) – Historic Mechanics Hall hosts its 400^thdocumented professional boxing show Saturday night, when Worcester’s adopted son, undefeated super middleweight sensation Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez, fights at home for the third time in his relatively young career.

The 26-year-old Dominican Republic native (18-0, 13 KOs) headlines a special edition of Broadway Boxing, presented by DiBella Entertainment, against intra-state rival and Iraq War veteran Chris Traietti (10-2, 6 KOs), of Quincy, in a 10-round bout.

Mechanics Hall has been a venue for pro boxing since 1920, but for a 41-year stretch it didn’t host a prizefighting show, until Rodriguez fought there in 2009 and again last year. Edwin relocated in Worcester from the Dominican Republic whenhe was 13, unable to speak a single word of English. Today, he’s a bi-lingual chess enthusiast who many consider leading 168-pound prospect in the world.

Back in the late twenties, like Edwin did many years later, Lou Brouillard (108-29-2, 66 KOs) moved to Worcester, and then went on to become world middleweight champion in 1933. The French-Canadian southpaw fought in Mechanics Hall nine times between 1929 and 1940, highlighted by his New England light heavyweight title-winning fight in 1938 versus Johnny Rossi (WTKO10).

Rodriguez, who trained the past two months in Houston with new chief second Ronnie Shields, had written into his contract that he’d fight a minimum of three times at home within three years. “I love fighting at home in front of my family, friends and fans,” Edwin said. “Being away from my family wasn’t fun, “but I did it so we’d all have a better life. They motivate me. Training in Houston was like training in Massachusetts. The air is thick there and it was very, very hot. We had wars in the gym and getting good sparring like I did will help take me to the next level.”

Rodriguez started boxing in 2001 and he developed into one of the top amateurs in the United States, compiling a solid 84-9 record that included gold-medal performances in the 2005 USA Boxing National Championships and 2006 U.S. National Golden Gloves Tournament. Rodriguez, who has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Dominican Republic, became the first Massachusetts boxer to win the middleweight title at the Nationals since “Marvelous”Marvin Hagler in 1973.

Saturday night’s Broadway Boxing show showcases the return of former WBA junior middleweight champion Joachim Alcine (32-2, 19 KOs) vs. upset specialist Jose “Stinger” Medina (14-9-2, 6 KOs), from Quincy. Also seeing action are two other boxers from Traietti’s hometown of Quincy –Rodriguez’ stable-mate junior lightweight Ryan“The Polish Prince” Kielczewski (10-0, 2 KOs) vs. James Lester (9-5, 4 KOs), and Gabriel Duluc (1-0, 1 KO) vs. Springfield (MA) junior welterweight Noel Garcia. Also scheduled to be in action are popular, female heavyweight Sonya “The Scholar” Lamonakis (5-0, 1 KO), fighting out of New York City, vs. Tiffany Woodard (4-4-1, 3 KOs); unbeaten Louisiana heavyweight prospect Kelvin Price (10-0, 6 KO) vs. Joseph Rabotte, and New Haven super bantamweight Luis “The KO King” Rosa(7-0, 5 KOs) vs. Shawn “Bones” Nichol (5-6, 5 KOs). All fights and fighters are subject to change.

Tickets for Broadway Boxing are on sale now through DiBella Entertainment, and start at only $35. Main Floor tickets are priced at $55, $75, and $125. Rear Balcony tickets are $35 and $75. Tables for groups of 10 are priced at $1,000. Tickets can be purchased by calling DiBella Entertainment: (212) 947-2577 and through the Mechanics Hall box office at (508) 752-0888. More information may be obtained by visiting www.dbe1.com.

Doors open at 6 PM/ET with the first bout slated for 7 PM/ET.

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The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

5 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

5 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

5 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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