By Jake Donovan
It’s been nearly a year worth of frustrations and mental anguish for welterweight contender Delvin Rodriguez. First forced to contend with the drama of watching Oscar Diaz slip into a coma after ten rounds of their brutal Friday Night Fights bout last July, then settling for a disputed draw with Isaac Hlatshwayo last November, the Dominican was long overdue for good fortunes to come his way.
He finally hit the jackpot Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Rodriguez survived an injury, a swollen shut eye and a major gut check in outlasting Shamone Alvarez en route to a well-earned decision win in their ESPN2 Friday Night Fights-televised main event.
Because this was his first appearance on the cable series since the near-fatal bout with Oscar Diaz last summer, much was made of how Rodriguez would react to pressure, and also whether or not he’d be willing to go full throttle to finish off his opponent.
Alvarez also seemed interested in testing his opponent’s potentially fragile mindset, pressuring him early in the fight. The strategy produced short term dividends, as Alvarez twice rocked Rodriguez with straight left hands in the opening round.
Jumping out to an early lead proved to be the easy part. The trick was to maintain momentum; Alvarez failed miserably.
Rodriguez regrouped and controlled the second round, largely behind a long one-two from the outside, making good use of his height and reach advantage. Alvarez failed to adapt in the second and most of the third before coming through with another straight left – his lone successful weapon – toward round’s end.
The fight threatened to break into a predictable pattern in the middle rounds. Rodriguez dominated whenever he worked behind the jab and followed with the right hand. However, the transplanted Dominican left the stick in his corner in round six, one where Alvarez was able to come back, even if not enough to take the round. Rodriguez lazily marched in with his guard slightly down, enabling Alvarez to work his way inside behind a right jab of his own.
The momentary lack of discipline on Rodriguez’ part made for an entertaining round. He attempted to return to basics in the seventh, but spent too much of the round following around Alvarez and allowing him to dictate the tempo.
With the fight way too close for comfort, Rodriguez came through with a big eighth round, one that proved to be the turning point in the fight.
The first half of the round focused on re-establishing the jab and targeting the body. It was all about Rodriguez’ power in the latter stages of the frame, landing a thumping straight right hand to stun Alvarez, and again with a right uppercut as the eighth came to a close.
His sudden power display came at a heavy price; Rodriguez complained to his corner men in between rounds of his right wrist possibly being broken. He certainly fought the ninth under that belief, throwing the left hand almost exclusively. Forced to fight one handed, Rodriguez added a new wrinkle to his attack, hooking off the jab after playing defense and dodging Alvarez’ ineffective incoming.
Trainer Lou Fusco suggested between rounds that Rodriguez use his damaged right as a decoy, to deliberately miss but to come right back with a left hook. Student obeyed teacher, following the fight throughout the tenth, at least whenever Alvarez didn’t resort to questionable tactics, including shoving Rodriguez to the canvas, possibly out of frustration over the fight slowly but surely slipping away.
There would be no faking with the right hand in the 11th, where Rodriguez would land his biggest punch of the fight, one that would seal the victory. Alvarez fought with greater desperation in the championship rounds, a tactic that frequently results in leaving scoring opportunities for your opponent. Rodriguez scored in a big way, pumping a jab and then a straight right hand to send Alvarez to the deck for the bout’s lone knockdown.
With the fight all but in the bank, Rodriguez could’ve easily coasted in the final round. He instead fought for the partisan crowd, a move that nearly cost him the fight.
Alvarez remained persistent in his attack and came through with a left hand that badly stunned his opponent. The southpaw remained in pursuit, but Rodriguez was able to steady himself enough to fend off Alvarez with his jab, and clinch where applicable. Both fighters spent the final stretch run of the fight contending with right eyes that were swollen shut, but steadily threw down until the final bell, much to the delight of the crowd who gave both fighters a standing ovation at night’s end.
The 11th round knockdown proved to be the difference between Rodriguez winning and settling for a second consecutive draw. Scores of 115-112 and 114-113 (twice) advanced his record to 24-2-2 (13KO) and now puts him in line for a future shot at an alphabet title at welterweight.
Despite the mandatory ranking, the weight might be longer than expected; Joshua Clottey, for whose title Rodriguez is now the top contender, is rumored to square off with Miguel Cotto in a June welterweight unification match. Given his potential injury, the weight could prove to be beneficial, particularly on the financial end.
For Alvarez, it’s back to the drawing board. The Atlantic City native falls to 20-2 (11KO). Both of his losses have come in title eliminators, all within his last three fights spanning just fifteen months.
The co-feature began as the mismatch expected on paper, but developed into a deceptively competitive fight. By fight’s end, welterweight prospect Raymond Serrano remained unbeaten, but was forced to work every step of the way in getting past Jay Krupp.
Serrano scored a knockdown very early in the fight, landing a right hand to send Krupp spiraling to the canvas. The second early exit of the telecast appeared inevitable, only for Serrano to forget how to finish a show. The Philly-based teenager (he turns 20 in May) spent the next several rounds fighting as if he expected the knockout to come, allowing Krupp back into the fight.
Krupp fared well in the second round, taking advantage of Serrano’s decision to throw one punch at a time. Both fighters had their moments in the third, though Krupp’s came too infrequently to make a dent on the scorecards.
The fight eventually broke out into a boxing match; Serrano sensed that the knockout wasn’t coming, and relied on his superior skill set to carry him the rest of the way. Krupp was unable to do much about it, until both fighters elected to stand and trade in the final ten seconds. The tactic nearly proved disastrous for Serrano, who was clipped twice by Krupp’s looping punches, forced to clinch more than he expected as they fought to the bell.
A unanimous decision was expected in the end, though the final scores didn’t quite tell the entire story. Two separate cards of 60-53 was a slight disservice to Krupp, though the third tally of 58-55 was a lot closer to the truth. Regardless, the right guy won in the end, and that was Raymond Serrano, who now improves to 9-0 (5KO).
Krupp, who splits his time between New Orleans, LA and Catskill, NY, falls to 12-2 (5KO) with the loss, snapping an eight-fight win streak in the process.
Former amateur standout Demetrius Andrade opened the show with his third knockout in as many pro fights. The latest victim was Tom Joseph, yet another overmatched Midwestern club fighter lined up for the 2008 US Olympian. He didn’t last very long, suffering a stoppage less than two minutes into the opening round in what served as Andrade’s ESPN2 Friday Night Fights debut.
Andrade landed pretty much at will, but it was an uppercut midway through the opening round that served as the beginning of the end. Joseph never recovered, and spent the rest of the abbreviated fight absorbing power shots while in earmuff mode. Referee Dick Flaherty recognized the beating that was surely to follow, and acted accordingly, though to the dismay of the crowd, who vehemently booed the stoppage.
The official time was 1:53 of the opening round.
With the win, Andrade moves to 3-0 (3KO) since turning pro last October. Joseph falls to 4-2-1 (0KO).
Those anxious to see more of Andrade won’t have to wait very long; co-promoters Star Boxing and Banner Promotions plan to bring him back in two weeks, also on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights. No opponent has yet been set; hopefully it’s much better than what’s been offered to date, as Andrade and the fans deserve much better.
Please feel free to submit any comments or questions to Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .