"In this fight, you are going to be seeing Andre Ward trying to be great again and me becoming great. I really feel like this is my time," Rodriguez said. It's a fight that Rodriguez is sky-high for. So when Ward (26-0, 14 KOs), out since September 2012 because of shoulder surgery, was looking for an opponent for his return, Rodriguez was the obvious candidate – and the one HBO really wanted - and although the deal was not easy to make, it ultimately got done. The explosive knockout of Grachev earned Rodriguez (24-0, 16 KOs), 28, the $600,000 winner's share of the $1 million purse for the final but, more important, gave him instant credibility as a legitimate title challenger. In the July final, Rodriguez scored the most impressive win of his career, a sensational first-round destruction of solid light heavyweight contender Denis Grachev, who had upset red-hot contender Ismayl Sillakh and given former super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute all he could handle last year before handing former light heavyweight titlist Zsolt Erdei his first defeat by upset split decision in the other Super Four semifinal. In the opener of the Monte Carlo tournament in March, Rodriguez scored a knockdown and won a 10-round unanimous decision against previously undefeated Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna, a 2008 Olympian from Argentina. It was the decision that indeed got Rodriguez over the hump, one that will pay off with his first shot at a world title when he challenges super middleweight world champion Andre Ward on Saturday night (HBO, 10 ET/PT) at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif. Unable to get back on the network in his next fight and with no other real possibilities for notable fights in the United States, Rodriguez and promoter Lou DiBella took a bit of a gamble as Rodriguez hit the road for Monte Carlo as one of the participants in the four-man Million Dollar Super Four tournament. Solid wins to be sure, but neither was all that scintillating. Those victories were good enough to get Rodriguez a look by HBO, where, in his two 2012 bouts, he outpointed tough Donovan George and stopped Jason Escalera in the eighth round. The Worcester, Mass., resident had long been considered one of boxing's top prospects and had steadily made his way up the ranks, defeating opponents such as James McGirt Jr., Aaron Pryor Jr. Super middleweight contender Edwin Rodriguez just needed to get over the hump to get a world title shot, and he did it - in great style. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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