Rodriguez Survives Wild Fight: Eyes Stevenson, Kovalev

By Jake Donovan

From the moment he looked at the calendar and realized the day, Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez knew to expect something crazy to happen. It came throughout the undercard and again – and again – over the course of his wild three-round shootout with Michael Seals.

“That f****n’ (Artur) Szpilka,” Rodriguez joked afterward of the heavyweight contender and his training stablemate. “Friday the 13th, you jinxed me tonight!”

Everything short of a black cat crossing under a standing ladder took place during the two-hour telecast of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Spike TV: Lights Out, live from Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. The final fight of the night saw Rodriguez score three knockdowns but having to overcome two of his own in getting rid of the previously unbeaten Seals in a bout that will be well-represented come year-end awards discussion.

Throughout fight week, Rodriguez – fighting for the fourth straight time as a full light-heavyweight – was confident that a body shot would change the course of his fight at some point with his undefeated but largely untested opponent.

That game plan lasted up until the bell sounded to begin the fight. Rodriguez - Dominican-proud and New England-based, fighting in Biloxi for the second time in his career – found Seals’ chin far too inviting, connecting with a left hand upstairs to put his opponent on the deck barely 30 seconds into the fight.

A 1st round knockout appeared to be in the works, a statement that held true through the first minute of the fight – only now it was Rodriguez’ turn to hit the deck. The former super middleweight contender was anxious to close the show, but left himself open for a right hand shot that put him down for the first time in his career.

“It was heated,” Rodriguez told BoxingScene.com afterward. “I came right after him. He went down, got right back up and jumped in there to fight with me. I take my hat off to him. He's a tough guy. It was a back-and-forth fight.”

It was a major step up in class for Seals (19-1, 14KO), a natural athlete but whom boasted minimal amateur experience and had spent most of his seven years as a pro fighting on club shows.

Still, he never quit trying and at several points in the fight appeared to be one punch away from the biggest win of his boxing career to date. It nearly came at the end of round one, when Rodriguez was down and dazed following another right hand shot. He beat the count, but was out on his feet as the bell sounded, to where his trainer had to embrace him and literally guide him back to his ring stool.

“I loved how the round started… certainly didn’t like how it ended, or how he looked,” admitted Rodriguez’ highly regarded head trainer Ronnie Shields. “I just told him to settle down, clear his head, find his shots and box his way back into the fight.”

By his own admission, the words didn’t immediately sink in.

“I have to be honest, I still can’t comprehend what he told me,” Rodriguez joked afterward. “But in all seriousness, everything started settling down after a couple of rounds. When he put me down, I got back up and then the next round began working behind my jab.

“This is what fighters do – you go down, you get back up and you fight.”

Rodriguez wouldn’t touch the canvas again for the rest of the night, but still ate plenty of shots upstairs. Seals still had a knockout on his mind, but couldn’t find that one (more) shot to close the show.

“He gave it everything he had,” trainer “Sugar” Bert Wells told BoxingScene.com of Seals’ performance. “This was his big shot, to show the world he could fight. He went all in.”

Seals would also go back down again, falling sideways to the canvas courtesy of a monster right hand upstairs. The sequence was the beginning of the end, as Seals – in addition to suffering his second knockdown of the fight – also injured his shoulder during the sequence.

He was granted few extra seconds to recover, however, as referee Fred Steinwinder III was distracted mid-count by a skirmish that took place on the other side of the ropes. Szpilka was ringside and grew excited in watching his gym mate Rodriguez come roaring back, charging toward the ring apron in celebration. His actions were mistaken for a man ready to climb into the ring, as security raced over in a moment that nearly escalated to a brawl.

As Seals witnessed the chaos and also awaited the count, it also allowed Rodriguez to shake loose any lingering cobwebs from earlier in the night.

“I saw all that happening, I saw my boy Szpilka come toward the ring and shout words of encouragement to me,” Rodriguez noted. “But most of all, I saw that I had a finished fighter in front of me. Any effects that came from what happened in the first round were gone and I was ready to finish him off.”

That he did, wasting no time in what would become the final round of the fight. Round three lasted all of 24 seconds, with Rodriguez flooring Seals for the third time on the night. This time, the Mobile, Alabama-bred boxer – now based out of Atlanta, but still playing to his Gulf Coast roots all night – wasn’t allowed to continue, as the referee declared him unfit to continue.

“Every fighter wants a perfect night, where you hit and don’t get hit back, but that just doesn’t happen,” Rodriguez pointed out afterward. “For me, this is the type of fight I wanted to win. It was a hit-and-hit-some-more type of fight. It was emotional, but I showed my heart, I showed my will and I got that win.”

The win was his fourth straight and his second in a row against a previously unbeaten opponent. However, it was noted throughout fight week and as the fight began, Rodriguez was still regarded as the more advanced boxer and the heavy betting favorite in both bouts.

With less than two months to go in 2015, it’s doubtful he returns to the ring before the New Year. When he does, he fully expects something big to come his way in a loaded weight division where he now feels like he’s at home.

“It feels good, easier for me to make weight. I'm just looking forward to the future,” Rodriguez stated. 

That future could include a possible title eliminator with Andrzej Fonfara – winner of last month’s light heavyweight slugfest on Spike TV when he outpointed Nathan Cleverly – or go straight to the top and face World light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson.

“I don't care who it is,” Rodriguez insisted when thinking about future options. “Bring on whoever they want to bring on. Give me Stevenson, give me Fonfara, (unbeaten unified light heavyweight champ Sergey) Kovalev… anybody from the Top 10. If you have a title I want it.”

Given the way the night played out, he’ll probably want that opportunity any time before mid-May.

“No more Friday the 13th fights for me,” quipped Rodriguez. “But whoever, whenever and wherever it is, I know I’m ready. I'm blessed to just have a great team to help me go get a world title.”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox