By Nick Bellafatto
Opening up with a furious onslaught where undefeated super middleweight contender Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KO’s) was looking to end matters in the very first round of his headline debut on HBO telecast from the MGM Grand at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut last night, he nearly pulled it off.
After landing as many as 49 power shots in that first frame, Rodriguez would send his young unseasoned replacement opponent Jason “Monstruo” Escalera (13-1-1, 12 KO’s) wobbling back to his corner, only to see the game but overmatched Puerto Rican fighting out of Union City, New Jersey survive that and numerous others rounds. However, Escalera would only be further victimized, receiving a consistent and methodically controlled thumping at the hands of the defending USBA champion who would maintain command throughout.
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For the challenger, who thought he had a punchers chance coming in after knocking out 12 of his previous 14 opponents, he would only have the tables turned on him as “La Bomba” would have his now formerly undefeated opponent in serious trouble on more than one occasion. The end would come in round eight courtesy of a number of blows delivered by Rodriguez, with the coup-de-grace bloodying the ear of Escalera which would prompt referee
Steve Smoger to call a halt to the one sided affair. The official time was 0:12 seconds of round 8.
In essence, the rough and tumble Puerto Rican would turn out to be a sacrificial lamb, having only went past four rounds only once in his career after padding his record with a variety of weak opposition. With those around Jason thoroughly believing he had the goods to take on the likes of an Edwin Rodriguez, Team Escalera would have to succumb to reality.
However, taken in a positive light, the young and seemingly one dimensional fighter can chalk this up as a lesson learned to perhaps expand on his skill set and return to the ring that much better for it.
As for Rodriguez, considering he’s perhaps a few fights removed from contending for a major world title in one of the more competitive divisions in boxing, I’m not so sure that this victory will put the remainder of the 168-pound weight class on notice considering the inexperience of his opponent over whom he would exert total dominance.
Nevertheless, a solid performance and no less flattering birthday gift for Edwin and Stephanie Rodriguez’s twin children, fighters in their own right given little chance of survival after a premature birth would leave both 6 year olds with cerebral palsy, while in addition autism would plague one of the children.
To repeat, with “La Bomba” Rodriguez again nearing a major title shot, apparently he feels that a worthwhile step in that direction would be to take down former unified middleweight titlist turned super middleweight Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik of Youngstown, Ohio. Let’s see if that bout will come to fruition as I’m sure a come-backing Kelly Pavlik, now under the
tutelage of highly regarded trainer Robert Garcia in Pavlik’s new setting of Oxnard, California, would like nothing more than to oblige Rodriguez as “The Ghost” is himself looking to regain some of his past glory.
*Televised Undercard Bouts*
Former three-division champion Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan (38-5-1, 27 KO’s) would turn back young up and coming Puerto Rican fighter Luis Orlando Del Valle (16-1, 11 KO’s), handing Del Valle his first defeat en-route to capturing the vacant NABF super bantamweight title with a unanimous decision victory.
The final tallies in favor of the Armenian fighter would read 99-91 twice, and 96-94 as Vic would be by far the more accurate fighter, landing the more telling blows while causing his opponent Luis Orlando to miss the large majority of his return fire as the pugilist who overall threw the greater abundance of punches.
Darchinyan looked uncharacteristically light on his feet early on as he would dart in and out to land the visibly appealing shots that in the end would secure the victory. However, midway through Darchinyan appeared somewhat gassed from all the early movement so that he would begin to throw himself at Del Valle when not working, tying up the Puerto Rican where he would land an occasional elbow, not to mention initiating a few head clashes along the way.
However, never quite sure how respond accordingly, the lack of experience on the part of Luis Orlando would show. Unsettled throughout most of the bout, this would cause Del Valle to be inaccurate so that he was unable to take advantage of a tiring Darchinyan who would do enough from moment to moment to avoid anything meaningful from his adversary while piling up the points.
In welterweight action, former three-time National Canadian champion and once defeated Antonin Decarie (27-1, 8 KO’s) would bide his time against Newark, New Jersey’s Alex Perez (16-1, 9 KO’s), to over the course of six rounds in a scheduled ten round affair find out what would work to his advantage. That would turn out to be getting in and out with a consistent straight right hand against the southpaw Perez which eventually set up the left hook that would for all intensive purposes take the New Jersey fighter out.
Suffering a knockdown just previous to the stoppage courtesy of the left hook in question, Perez would rise to his feet, only to be saved by the referee after taking a number of solid right hands which would drive Alex back onto the ropes where he was totally defenseless. The official end would be listed as 2:54 of round 6. Alex Perez, who would suffer his first defeat, was throughout never really in the fight, unable to connect solidly on his crafty Canadian adversary Decarie who would in the process pick up the fringe WBC International welterweight title for his efforts.
