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If you’re going to step up, why not step up for all the marbles?
That approach worked for Andre Ward, who, despite a 2004 Olympic Gold Medal, was still fighting the likes of Shelby Pudwill, Edison Miranda and Henry Buchanan in 2009 when he entered the Super Six tournament and shocked everyone by dominating the top man at 168 pounds, Mikkel Kessler.
In contrast, Edwin Rodriguez has no Olympic gold in his trophy cabinet and isn’t the most skilled boxer in the division but, he is undefeated, can really wing punches and is full of confidence.
But will that be enough to topple WBC/WBA champion Ward, the king of the hill at super middleweight when they meet at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California on November 16?
Normally, no, definitely not but Ward has been out of the ring for a year, recovering from injury following his masterful dismantling of WBC light heavyweight titlist Chad Dawson a year ago when the pair clashed for Ward’s belts.
The aggressive, come forward Rodriguez, 24-0 (16), could be a real handful for Ward, 26-0 (14), who will have to overcome ring rust and the possible concern that he could re-injure himself during the fight.
Rodriguez is coming off a first round annihilation of promising Russian light heavyweight Denis Grachev two months ago but will be stepping, way, way up above the level of competition he’s been in with thus far in his five year pro career and fittingly, “La Bomba” will be in the ring with “Son of God”.
The thing about Ward is, he’s kind of an unorthodox, messy fighter, not a classic boxer at all, and thus hard to defend against. He wears opponents down with lots of grabbing, holding and wrestling on the inside after a few rounds of energy sapping lead rights to the stomach.
He throws awkward left hooks and right hands that may look ungainly but land a lot of the time, and opponents don’t see the punches coming. He’s got good defense, making rivals miss and punishing those mistakes.
Rodriguez also likes to throw right hands to the body, a long, lunging punch that follows a left jab upstairs, early on in a bout, and uses that to cover distance so he can get closer to opponents.
Once there, Rodriguez starts letting his hands go, often employing massive, wide swinging punches that would have made another Massachusetts native, Rocky Marciano, undoubtedly proud.
It’s a great approach if the punches land but is Andre Ward, the world’s best fighter at 168 pounds and probably 175 too, really going to get nailed by telegraphed, “here it comes” roundhouse shots?
It’s doubtful. And if Rodriguez can’t connect with the sucker punches, it’s going to be a long night for the 28 year old from Worcester, Mass.
If he is able to put that kind of leather on ward consistently, he’ll pull off the biggest upset of the year, and who knows, this is Boxing after all where anything can and does happen.
But don’t bet the farm on it.
