By Ian S Palmer
Light heavyweight Edwin Rodriguez of the Dominican Republic will be taking on the undefeated Michael Seals of Atlanta, Georgia in a 10-round bout this Friday, November 13th at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. The contest is another in the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) series and it will be broadcast live in North America on the Spike television network. Rodriguez has lost just one fight and these two have heavy hands so fans should be in for a decent fight.
The 30-year-old Rodriguez, who now fights out of Worcester, Massachusetts, has a fine record of 27-1 along with 18 Kos while the 33-year-old Seals has a perfect mark of 19-0 with 14 Kos under his belt. Rodriguez stands six-feet tall and has a reach of 76 inches. He’s boxed 149 rounds since turning pro in 2008 and owns a current knockout ratio of 64 per cent. Seals has both the height and reach advantage since he’s 6-foot-3 and has an 80-inch wingspan. He’s gone just 42 rounds since 2008 and has a better knockout ratio at 74 per cent.
Rodriguez is after a second world title shot after he failed in his first attempt back in 2013 when Andre Ward beat him by a wide unanimous decision in a super middleweight tilt. That bout was the only loss of Rodriguez’s pro career. He’s also faced the likes of Derrick Findley, Denis Grachev, Donovan George and Darnell Boone. If he manages to beat Seals on Friday night he could end up with a title shot against either WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Adonis Stevenson of Haiti or IBF, WBA, and WBO kingpin Sergey Kovalev of Russia. However, a fight with Stevenson seems more realistic since he’s also a PBC boxer.
Seals has been in the ring with opponents such as Steve Walker, Byron Mitchell and Willis Lockett . He’s never faced a top contender and will be stepping up in class against Rodriguez. This is also the first time he’s been scheduled for a contest more than eight rounds. If he manages to beat Rodriguez he should find himself ranked as a top-10 fighter in the light heavyweight division, but not necessarily a title contender. In his last fight back in March, Seals beat Carlos Reyes by a six-round unanimous decision. It was the first time he’s gone to the scorecards in nine bouts since he was on an eight-fight stoppage streak with six of them coming in the first round.
Prediction
Seals has shown good power up to now, but its’ hard to tell how good he is since nine of his opponents had losing records and three others were making their pro debuts. He’s got a puncher’s chance against Rodriguez, but as long as Rodriguez can handle his power then he should have the advantage. Logic would dictate that if Rodriguez could go the distance with Andre Ward he should be able to handle Seals. And he will as long as he can handle Seals’ power.
