Elvis Rodriguez commended Joseph Adorno for accepting what figures to be a difficult fight in Rodriguez’s weight class.
Rodriguez is a southpaw who stands approximately four inches taller than Adorno, who admits he feels more comfortable competing in the lightweight division. The 27-year-old Rodriguez also has knocked out 80 percent of his 15 professional opponents entering their 10-round, 140-pound bout Saturday night at The Armory in Minneapolis.
“The fact that he accepted the fight tells me that he’s coming a hundred-percent ready,” Rodriguez told BoxingScene.com through a translator. “And I’m here to show that I’m more ready than he is.”
The Dominican Republic’s Rodriguez (13-1-1, 12 KOs), who is trained by Freddie Roach, hasn’t boxed since he knocked out Argentina’s Juan Jose Velasco (24-3, 15 KOs) in the seventh round last March 26 at The Armory. Following a lengthy layoff, Rodriguez intends to prove he is a threat in the stacked junior welterweight division.
“I wanna show everybody that this is the 140-pound division, that it’s a very different division,” Rodriguez said. “And I wanna show what I always show, that I’m one of the elite in my division.”
The 23-year-old Adorno took this fight because he wants to rejuvenate his career following a 10-round, unanimous-decision defeat to another Dominican fighter, then-unbeaten Michel Rivera, on the same card on which Rodriguez knocked out Velasco almost 11 months ago. Adorno (17-1-2, 14 KOs), of Allentown, Pennsylvania, is 3-0 since Rivera beat him, but Rodriguez is the best of his four foes during that stretch.
Rodriguez has knocked out Velasco and Mexico’s Juan Pablo Romero (14-1, 9 KOs) in his two bouts since Chicago’s Kenneth Sims Jr. (19-2-1, 7 KOs) upset him by majority decision in an eight-rounder that occurred in May 2021 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
“It’s a fight that means a lot,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of people have been talking about this fight, about how tough the fight is. I’m very excited and very happy. I think Saturday night we’re gonna steal the show.”
Caesars Sportsbook lists Rodriguez as more than a 3-1 favorite to defeat Adorno in a bout that will open a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET.
“It’s possible that [Adorno fighting at 140] gives me a slight advantage, but I’m not worried about that,” Rodriguez said. “I know he’s a good fighter and that he has a lot of talent. I prepared for the best Adorno.”
Rodriguez realizes a knockout victory would make a statement, but the Santo Domingo native didn’t predict one against an opponent who has lost only the aforementioned decision to Rivera (24-1, 14 KOs).
“I don’t look for the knockout,” Rodriguez said, “but if the knockout comes, that’ll be spectacular. It’ll put the entire junior welterweight division on notice.”
Following Rodriguez-Adorno, Showtime will televise another 10-rounder in which Jamal James (27-2, 12 KOs), a former WBA world welterweight champ from Minneapolis, will square off against Argentina’s Alberto Palmetta (18-1, 13 KOs). Another Argentinean, Jeremias Ponce (30-0, 20 KOs), will oppose Puerto Rico’s Subriel Matias (18-1, 18 KOs) in the 12-round main event for the vacant IBF junior welterweight title.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
