by David P. Greisman

WORCESTER, Mass. – Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.

Edwin Rodriguez heard them chant for him through five rounds. And then he gave his hometown crowd reason to go from chanting to cheering, knocking out tough last-minute replacement Ibahiem King on Thursday 66 seconds into that fifth round.

King stepped in Wednesday, replacing Gabriel Holguin, who reportedly never boarded his plane to New England. King came in with a record of seven wins, two by way of knockout, and three losses, all of which came in his last four fights.

He was a middleweight against a super middleweight, fighting at light heavyweight. He didn’t fight like he was out-sized. Nor did he fight like he was out-gunned.

The aggressive Rodriguez appreciated his opponent’s bravado by immediately seeking to suck it out of him, launching body shot after body shot in the first round. It was a wise strategy against a smaller foe, and a late replacement at that. King appeared to be in shape, however, withstanding the barrage and then firing back with three straight lefts. Bravely, he held his gloves at his side, dodging Rodriguez’s punches.

Four rounds later, King’s bravery would do him in.

Rodriguez forced King into a neutral corner. Rather then clinch or move away, King attempted to punch his way out of trouble, throwing a southpaw right hand. Rodriguez got to him first, however, with a big left hand that buckled King’s knees. The referee moved in, apparently ruling that the ropes had held King up, and issued him a count.

Rodriguez came back at King. Again, King tried to punch his way out. Again, King got punched out. This time it was a right hand from Rodriguez over King’s left, a big shot that sent King down and led the third man in the ring to wave the fight off.

This was Rodriguez’s second fight at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. As with March 2009 against Patrick Thompson, he sent the crowd (1,129 for this fight) home early and he sent them home happy.

Rodriguez improves to 16-0 with 12 knockouts. King falls to 7-4 with 2 knockouts.


On the undercard:

- Ryan Kielczewski UD6 Juan Nazario (junior lightweights). All three judges saw the bout 60-55. Nazario scored a knockdown in the second on what appeared to be a slip. Kielczewski scored a legitimate knockdown in the fourth on a big right hand.

Kielczewski, of Quincy, Mass., is now 7-0 (2 knockouts). Nazario, of Miami, is now 6-3-1 (4 knockouts).

- Rashad Minor UD4 Reginald Jackson (heavyweights). All three judges saw the bout 40-36.

Minor, of Worcester, Mass., improves to 4-1 (3 KOs). Jackson, from Bloomfield, N.M., drops to 2-2 (2 KOs).

- Sonya Lamonakis TKO2 Kasondra Hardnett (female heavyweights). The stoppage came 25 seconds into the round. Hardnett took a left hook upstairs, turned her head  away and shook her head, signaling that she didn’t want to continue.

Lamonakis, of Turners Falls, Mass., is now 1-0 (1 KO). Hardnett, of Canton, Ohio, is now 0-3.

- Isiah Thomas UD6 Larry Pryor (cruiserweights/over-the-limit light heavyweights). All three judges saw the bout 58-55.

Thomas, of Detroit, is now 7-0 (4 KOs). Pryor, of Houston, is now 6-7 (4 KOs).

- Richard Pierson TKO1 Reynaldo Rodriguez (super middleweights). Time of stoppage was 2:32. Pierson, who had already landed a few hard right uppercuts, threw a jab and followed with a right uppercut that sent Rodriguez down hard. Rodriguez barely beat the count and was on unsteady legs, forcing the referee to call a halt to the bout.

Pierson, of Paterson, N.J., improves to 9-2 (6 KOs). Rodriguez, of Woonsocket, R.I., suffered his first pro defeat and drops to 5-1 (2 KOs).

David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. His weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. He may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com