Rodriguez takes Rosinsky’s zero and preserves his own but scoring is questionable

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Denzil Stone – Atlantic City

Undefeated super middle contender Edwin Rodriguez put his unblemished record on the line when he took on little known prospect Will Rosinsky at a 172lb catchweight at the Foxwoods Resort, Mashantucket, Connecticut on Friday, October 21 yet the wide scores of 100-90 (x3) will raise eyebrows as Rosinsky forced Rodriguez to the outside due to his unrelenting pressure.

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Stone’s scorecard

Judges verdict: 100-90, 100-90, 100-90, in favour of Rodriguez.

Pumping out his lead jab whilst retaining a sprightliness on his feet, Edwin Rodriguez boxed in spurts, moved laterally in the ring and attempted to wear Will Rosinsky down with body shots. In return, the New Yorker who was making a considerable step-up in class by taking on La Bomba, tagged Rodriguez with right hand power shots on numerous occasions.

The second round contained an intriguing battle for distance. Rodriguez wanted to keep the fight at mid-range, where he could step-back and then fire in a solitary shot to the gut, however, Rosinsky’s desire to take the fight to the inside ensured he was – more often than not – fighting on the Dominican’s toes. With 20 seconds remaining on the ring clock, Rodriguez tested Rosinsky’s chin with a hellacious overhand right that would wobble most.

In the opening ten seconds of the third, Rosinsky, double, treble and quadrupled up on the jab, however, he was defence-less against the overhand right and Rosinsky’s corner could be heard barking ‘keep them up’; a reminder of the instruction he received between rounds to employ a defence against Rodriguez’s right hands. In the round’s final minute, Rodriguez had a battle on his hands keeping Rosinsky off of him as the American forced him against the turnbuckle where he had to fend off a flurry.

Upper body movement foiled Rodriguez’s weaponry in the fourth round. A high-tempo fight, the pace seemed to suit the pressuring style of Rosinsky more so. Left hooks from close range and overhand rights from the outside proved Rodriguez’s most useful shots.

By the fifth, Rodriguez had established a jabbing rhythm that he was able to attach his straight right onto before throwing his combinations whilst in the pocket. He needed to be in and out, though, otherwise Rosinsky was able to take over as he was the more comfortable inside fighter. With 30 seconds remaining on the clock, Rodriguez sent in a looping right hand that pounded into Rosinsky’s cheek-bone.

Between rounds, Rosinky’s head second iterated the importance of keeping busy. Rosinsky landed the first meaningful punch in the sixth – a left jab – but, despite what he had just heard, he was too cagey, keeping his hands up and not throwing enough leather to a: perturb Rodriguez from closing the gap and b: deserve the ten score. Rodriguez, meanwhile, paid particular attention to his opponent’s body.

Rosinsky caught Rodriguez with a telling left hook midway through the seventh and, moments later, targeted the body with hard punches. Rodriguez sought to reply with flurries but Rosinsky, for the first real time in the contest, began actively moving his head which meant he was able to slip Rodriguez’s tough right.

Having lost the seventh round, Rodriguez began the eighth looking to unleash heavy leather but Rosinsky parried the first blows on his gloves and forearms. For the first time in the contest, Rosinsky’s legs were considerably weakened after Rodriguez unleashed a huge right hand… Rosinsky, though, acted like a fighter by responding with punches and a brawl ensued in the corner until the bell chimed the end of play.

Fighting with his back on the ropes, Rodriguez relinquished control of the fight to Rosinsky who had the taller man where he wanted him and it took Rodriguez a while to motion away from the danger zone.

Inspired by a pep talk from his corner who said he should ‘do it for his father’ (who passed away in December, 2010), Rosinsky boxed with aggression in the final round. Rodriguez was struck with four-punch moves midway through the stanza and looked to land his own heavy hits but increasingly was flinging his fists at air and not Will’s pale frame.

At the fight’s end, both fighters celebrated… arms aloft, mounting the turnbuckles, confident they had done enough to win. Rodriguez showed good boxing ability in a number of rounds in the first half of the fight, but Rosinsky’s jab, his pressure and come-forward nature dictated the flow and gained him a crucial edge.

To have the three ringside judges record identical scores of 100-90 meant that in every round of the scheduled ten, they deemed Rosinsky to be inferior. This was not the case and an insult to the work-rate of the New Yorker. The fight was close and there were many rounds were it could have gone to either man so Rodriguez prevailing by way of majority decision would have raised few questions, but considering his fighter’s display, Rosinsky’s promoter may want answers having to explain a unanimous decision loss…

With the win, Rodriguez rose to 20-0-0, 14ko while Rosinsky dropped to 14-1-0, 8ko.

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Tags: Boxing, Boxing News, Edwin Rodriguez, Shobox, Shobox: The Next Generation, Showtime, Super Middleweight, Will Rosinsky