Edwin Rodríguez (born May 5, 1985) is a Dominican

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who lives in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

Early life

Rodriguez moved to Worcester at age 13 with dreams of becoming the next great Dominican ballplayer. The season for outdoor baseball is shorter due to New England's temperate climate. Edwin abandoned aspirations for baseball to take up boxing.

Amateur career

Rodriguez had an 84–9 record and won the USA Boxing Championships 2005 and the

National Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

as a middleweight (165 pounds). Rodriguez was training for the USA Olympic qualifiers for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

when his pregnant fiancee delivered twins born 16 weeks premature. Rodriguez chose to dedicate his time to his family and eventually lost in the final qualifier for the Olympic box-offs. Following the

Boston Marathon bombing The Boston Marathon bombing, sometimes referred to as simply the Boston bombing, was an Islamist domestic terrorist attack that took place during the 117th annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarna ...

, Rodriguez revealed that he had previously sparred with suspect

Tamerlan Tsarnaev Tamerlan Anzorovich Tsarnaev (; October 21, 1986 – April 19, 2013) ; ; ; was a Russian-born terrorist of Chechens, Chechen and Avars (Caucasus), Avar descent who, with his younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, planted pressure cooker bombs at ...

in 2010 and expressed regret that he had "slowed down" when he had Tsarnaev hurting 2 rounds into their sparring session.

Professional career

Rodriguez, known by the nickname "La Bomba", turned pro in 2008 for promoter

Lou DiBella Louis John DiBella Jr. is an American boxing promoter, minor league baseball team owner and television/film producer. Education DiBella was born in New York City, and he is a graduate of Regis High School later having continued his educatio ...

. Rodriguez is a world-ranked super middleweight (168 pounds). Rodriguez previously trained with Peter Manfredo Sr and currently trains with

Ronnie Shields Ronnie Shields (born June 6, 1958 in Port Arthur, Texas) is a former professional boxer in the featherweight division and is currently a boxing trainer. Amateur career Shields had a stellar amateur career. In 1974 he was the National Junior Ol ...

. Rodriguez was managed by Larry Army Jr until the weeks before the Monaco Million Dollar Super Four Tournament, after which the two sides worked out an agreement and announced an amicable split. Rodriguez signed with manager

Al Haymon Al Haymon (born April 21, 1955) is an American businessman and boxing manager. He was the manager of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and has won the Boxing Writers of America Manager of the Year Award five times. Early life Haymon was raised in Cleveland, ...

and are in negotiations for his next fight, likely against a title holder and on Showtime. Rodriguez wears Rival gloves, is affiliated with Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning (SNAC), and has included hypoxic boxing techniques in his training. He has steadily developed into a world title contender with recent wins against previously undefeated Will Rosinsky, Don George, and previously unbeaten Jason Escalera. Rodriguez is currently ranked No. 1 by the WBC, No. 3 by the IBF, No. 3 by the WBA, and No. 7 by The Ring magazine, and has been mentioned as a likely title contender in 2013 or 2014.

Monte-Carlo Million Dollar Super Four

Rodriguez won the Monaco Million Dollar Super Four Tournament by beating previously undefeated

Ezequiel Maderna Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna (born October 1, 1986) is an Argentine professional boxer. He is also a former Olympian for Argentina in the men's middleweight division. Amateur career At the South American Games 2006 he won bronze when he lost 7:9 t ...

in a unanimous decision before an impressive first round TKO in the final against Denis Grachev to collect the winner's share on the 60/40 split of the $1 million purse.

Victory over Craig Baker

On May 23, 2015 Rodriguez defeated Craig Baker by TKO in the third round of a

Premier Boxing Champions ''Premier Boxing Champions'' (PBC) is an ongoing series of televised boxing events connected to manager Al Haymon. PBC was initially promoted as an effort to return boxing to mainstream broadcast and cable television, as opposed to premium cha ...

bout in the Agganis Arena, Boston, televised live on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

Victory over Michael Seals

On November 13, 2015 Rodriguez defeated Michael Seals by TKO in the third round of a

bout in the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino Biloxi,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, televised live on

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are locate ...

. Edwin Rodriguez barely survived the first round after being floored twice, but he quickly rallied to stop Michael Seals in the third round, using three knockdowns of his own.

Professional boxing record

Personal life

Rodriguez moved to the US from the Dominican Republic in 1998. Rodriguez credits working in his father's convenience store as instrumental in helping him learn English and adjust to life in the US. Rodriguez is father to a twin son and daughter born 23 weeks into his fiancee's pregnancy in 2006. His children faced difficult odds as micro preemies born 16 weeks premature but persevered in large part to their parents' dedication and sacrifice. Rodriguez and his fiancee married in 2010 and welcomed another son in 2013. He starred in the box office hit Bleed For This.

References

External links

*
Biography of Edwin Rodriguez on Premier Boxing Champions website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Edwin Living people 1985 births Dominican Republic male boxers Boxers from Massachusetts Middleweight boxers Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers National Golden Gloves champions American male boxers Dominican Republic emigrants to the United States