Veteran junior middleweight contender and former world title challenger Delvin Rodriguez finds himself in a must win situation on February 15 when he takes on undefeated middleweight George “Comanche Boy” Tahdooahnippah at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Rodriguez has challenged for a world title on two occasions, with the first time being back in 2009 against IBF Welterweight Champion Isaac Hlatshwayo and most recently last year in June against WBA Junior Middleweight Champion Austin Trout, coming up short both times. In order to get back to the big stage and achieve his dream of becoming a world champion, he must get past Tahdooahnippah because if he suffers another loss he may never get another title shot again. “This is a fight that there is no way I can lose. I’m at a point in my career where I can not afford to lose to anybody right now if I want to accomplish what I want by the end of this year, which is to be in position for another world title. I got to win this fight and not just win this fight; I got to win this fight very convincingly and in an exciting way,” Rodriguez explained.
The fight will be contested at 157 lbs which will be the first time that Rodriguez has fought above the junior middleweight limit. “Comanche Boy,” who has been a career long middleweight, is looked at as the bigger man and is expected to try and impose his size and strength on the smaller Rodriguez. “It will make it easier for me if he comes to me and tries to muscle me. I think he will be in for a surprise because my combinations and my movement are going to make him crazy,” Rodriguez said.
Although Rodriguez is a competent boxer with above average skill and technique, he is best known for his twelve round war with Pawel Wolak back in July of 2011 in a junior middleweight fight that turned out to be an epic slugfest, which ended in a draw.
Most were expecting more of the same from Rodriguez last June when he challenged Austin Trout for his WBA Junior Middleweight Title but surprisingly he fought an uncharacteristically conservative fight, much to the dismay of the fans in attendance and watching from home. “I believe he (Austin Trout) was uncomfortable with the styles and so was I. We couldn’t really find each other’s rhythm and that’s the reason why it became an ugly fight. It became a boring fight. My mistake was I should have taking a little more risks and put more pressure on him, just let it go and don’t look for the precise moment,” claimed Rodriguez.
This time around, on February 15, Rodriguez says it will be different, promising, “You can expect the Delvin Rodriguez that goes forward and tries to put an end to the fight in an exciting way.”
If the Delvin Rodriguez that we saw in the first Pawel Wolak fight shows up against Tahdooahnippah, we could be in for an exciting match-up.
Listen to the full interview here: http://mixlr.com/thaboxingvoice/showreel/lucas-matthysse-willie-nelson-delvin-rodriguez-steve-kim-on-tha-boxingvoice-radio-tv/