Wolak: I'll Be Tougher, Better For Rodriguez Rematch

By Mike Coppinger

For the past few months following his fight of the year candidate with Delvin Rodriguez, Pawel Wolak has been linked to a number of opponents for the Antonio Margarito-Miguel Cotto 2 undercard on Dec. 3 at Madison Square Garden.

After all the posturing, Wolak’s match will be the one everyone wanted it to be – a rematch of his draw with Rodriguez – and the New Jersey resident couldn’t be happier.

“I think it worked out perfectly,” Wolak told BoxingScene. “It was my idea in the very beginning, even after the [first] fight I went down to Vegas on purpose just to see if Top Rank wanted to do the fight. So I’m glad they actually finally agreed to it.”

With the first fight ending in draw, Wolak vows to perform better this time around.

“I will be better, I will be tougher. I have to do better,” Wolak proclaimed. “I also think that was a little bit of a freak thing with the eye (referring to the huge swelling on his eye in the bout which resembled a baseball). That doesn’t usually happen. I’m definitely going to be way tougher, way smarter in this fight.”

Wolak sees some weaknesses he can exploit in his opponent, but also is expecting a better Rodriguez this go around.

“I watched the fight with my trainers, we all watched the fight,” said Wolak, 30. “I know Delvin Is going to be looking at things, he’s going to come in better shape, he’s going to come in tougher, so we gotta get it done. It’s definitely going to be a battle, it’s going to be an entertaining fight.”

Mike Coppinger is a regular boxing freelancer for USA TODAY and Ring Magazine. He’s a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, the Ring Ratings Advisory Panel and the Yahoo! Sports Boxing Panel. Follow him on Twitter: @MikeCoppinger.