Francisco Rodriguez dies after fight at Blue Horizon

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/top_story/20091123_Requiem_for_a_super_bantamweight__Francisco_Rodriguez_dies_after_fight_at_Blue_Horizon.html The 25-year-old Rodriguez, a native of Guadalajara, Mexico, known as "Paco" to friends and family, will never get to share that experience. Rodriguez was removed from life support at around 8:30 last night, according to his older brother and manager, Alex. Rodriguez was injured during a 10th-round knockout loss to North Philly's Teon Kennedy on Friday night in a matchup for the vacant USBA super bantamweight championship. A minute or so after Rodriguez (14-3-1, 8 KOs) was helped onto his stool following the stoppage in the scheduled 12-round bout, his body went limp and his breathing became labored. Ring physicians and EMS personnel frantically administered to him before he was removed from the ring on a stretcher and transported to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery to relieve pressure for a brain bleed. Despite the prompt actions of all concerned, however, Rodriguez was waging a battle that for all intents and purposes was already lost. His condition was listed as "extremely critical" following the operation, and it soon became apparent that his injuries were such that he would never recover. Family members who were initially reluctant to accept that grim prognosis eventually agreed that he should be unplugged from the machine that had helped him to breathe, and shortly thereafter he was gone. Rodriguez leaves behind his wife, Sonia, and 5-month-old daughter, Ginette, as well as his parents and two brothers. A number of relatives came from Chicago and were at his side to somberly bid him farewell. His father, Evaristo Rodriguez Sr. and brother Evaristo "Tito" Rodriguez Jr. had been in Francisco's corner at the Blue along with trainer George Hernandez. His father was a boxer in Mexico and in Chicago, and trained all three of his sons. Tito won a national Golden Gloves championship as a 17-year-old and then retired from the ring. Francisco was the best of the three. He had a 76-6 record as an amateur, won the 2001 national Golden Gloves title and was a five-time Chicago Golden Gloves champion. It was the first fatality directly attributed to boxing injuries in Philadelphia in more than 31 years. The most recent had been when Trenton middleweight Jody White died following a fourth-round technical knockout to Curtis Parker on March 21, 1978, at the Blue.