By Miguel Rivera
2016 Olympic bronze medal winner Misael 'Chino' Rodriguez will be managed by three division world champion Abner Mares.
Rodriguez of Mexico won bronze in the middleweight ranks in Rio. He is going to be trained by veteran coach Robert Garcia and his pro debut is expected to take place in March. He made recent headlines after signing a promotional agreement with Ringstar Sports, which is the new company created by former Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer.
"As you know, I signed with Richard Schaefer, and my manager is going to be Abner Mares, and between the two of us we decided to train with Robert Garcia. I had already been thinking about him because I think he is a great coach and his style is coupled with my style, and besides that I will have all of the support from the team behind Ábner Mares," said Misael to ESPN Deportes.
Rodríguez was the first boxing medalist at the Olympic Games for Mexico in 16 years and he was also the first medalist at middleweight, for Mexico, since the 1968 Olympic Games. On paper, his medal was not expected but he was winning the required fights to reach the podium.
After securing his glory in the Olympics, Misael chose to go pro, and so did his team-mate Joselito Velazquez, who made his professional debut on December 17 in Cancun, Quintana Roo, with the help of his manager Frank Espinoza. Velazquez signed up with Japan based Teiken Promotions.
Rodriguez said he expects to make his debut in the month of March, although he has no definite date, in addition to starting his pro run at super welterweight.
Last month in Los Angeles, Mares got back in the mix with a dominating twelve round decision over Jesus Cuellar to capture the WBA "regular" featherweight world title.
