Dangerous to the Last Second of the Last Round: A Case of Deceptive Records

“The Ding-A-Ling Man,” 5’10” Darnell Wilson, was 24-17-3 when he faced off against 6’4” 250-pound Mexican-American heavyweight David “Nino” Rodriguez (36-0 and with a menacing KO percentage of almost 90%) in Atlantic City in December 2013. Moreover, Wilson had lost 11 of his previous 12 fights. But even a cursory review of their respective records revealed that while Wilson was losing on a regular basis, the caliber of his opposition was light years better than Nino’s.

With the exception of a major upset over Juan Carlos Gomez (the Cuban was 49-2 at the time), Ding-A-Ling was losing fights to rugged opponents like Firat Arslan (28-3-1), Gomez in a rematch, Felix Cora Jr. (17-0-2), Vadim Tokarev (19-01),  Andre Purlette (38-2), B.J. Flores (20-0-1), Grigory Drozd (31-1), Alex Leapai (20-3-3), Denis Boytsov (29-0), Edmund Gerber (21-0), and Andrey Fedosov (23-2). He also had back-to-back draws in 2004 with highly regarded George Khalid Jones (19-2) and Ugandan James Lubwama (16-1). Articulate and affable, Ding-a-Ling had assumed the role of global road warrior as he fought the very best — often in their home countries.

The highlight of Darnell Wilson’s career came in 2007 when he scored back-to-back stoppages of Kelvin Davis and Emmanuel Nwodo on ESPN.

Darnell Wilson vs. Kelvin Davis (February 2007)

Wilson stopped look-alike Kelvin Davis in three rounds of entertaining action where both men hit the canvas. This one had ESPN’s Teddy Atlas screaming and howling as is his wont.

Darnell Wilson vs. Emmanuel Nwodo (June 2007)

This was followed by that unforgettable fight in Staten Island where a left hook in the eleventh round almost decapitated Nigerian heavyweight Emmanuel Nwodo in a knockout reminiscent to Samuel Peter’s left hook KO of Jeremy Williams and Julian Jackson’s devastating right hand knockout of Herol Graham. (Derrick Jefferson’s waxing of Maurice Harris also comes to mind.) In each case, the victims were out for several minutes.

While Teddy Atlas went bonkers–even for him, ESPN’S Joe Tessitore went full-tilt boogie and screamed, “ Ohhhhhhhhhh, a left hook like you cannot believe…Oh my! Oh my, this fight is over.”

But the best was yet to come.

Wilson vs. Rodriguez

Nino had been inactive for two years because of serious injuries, the nature and causes of which are grist for separate essays and include a life altering knife attack. He was looking to get back into the mix and earn a big payday.

This prompted Nino’s promoter, Zel Ramirez, to make this outrageous challenge: “We are calling them out. If the Klitschkos want to make a statement, they need to start taking on the next generation of great heavyweights, and in the front of that list is David Rodriguez.”

His best prior win may have been his frightening KO of a downward spiraling Owen Beck in 2011—or it might have been against an aging Robert Davis in 2009, but absolutely nothing stood out as an outstanding victory against a notable opponent. In fact, when Marcus “Migraine” McGee extended Nino for eight rounds in 2007, many of his weaknesses were exposed

Still, 36 wins are 36 wins and 34 stoppages are 34 stoppages

The Fight

It was give-and-take during the first few rounds with Wilson landing some heavy hooks early and then Nino doing good body work to regain control in the middle rounds. The fight was close going down the stretch with Nino moving ahead. An eye cut then aroused Wilson who went after Nino with scary left hooks of the knockout variety.

in the very final round with the ten-second warning having sounded and with only one second to go — yes, one second to go — Wilson put Rodriguez to sleep with his patented left hook. Nino had chosen to engage instead of backing off to preserve his victory. The hook was nasty and well-leveraged, landing flush. Referee Lindsey Page dispensed with the count at 2:59 of the sixth and final round.

It was real-life Rocky and also the ESPN KO of the Year for 2013. Wilson had lived up to his nickname. However, the problem was that he simply was too short, too slow, and eventually too old. He soon became a high-level gatekeeper and retired in 2015 with a deceptive “Fearless Freddie Pendleton-type record of 25-21-3.

Nino, a complex and savvy individual, retired with a 37-2 mark and to his credit used social media and appearances on talk shows to spread awareness on child trafficking for the use in sex crimes. He also wrote a book titled, When the Lights Go Out: From Survivor to Champion.

Ted Sares can be reached at tedsares@roadrunner.com

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel 

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE