By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten Edwin Rodriguez (24-0, 16 KO’s) thinks he has the talent to defeat WBA Super World super middleweight champion Andre Ward (26-0, 14 KO’s) by a decision next month on November 16th at the Citizens Business Bank Arena, in Ontario, California, USA. I don’t know of too many people who feel that Rodriguez can outbox Ward, but Rodriguez thinks he’s got a good chance of doing just that.
Rodriguez has beaten fighters like Will Rosinsky, Don George and Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna, but no one that you can remotely call good fighters. Beating guys like that by a decision is no big deal, but trying to beat a talent like Ward by a decision is a whole different thing altogether. Rodriguez isn’t a great boxer to begin with, and it’s going to be comical watching him try to beat Ward at his own game next month.
Rodriguez said to On the Ropes Boxing Radio “Going in there and beating Andre Ward to the punch…I’m not just going out to try to land one shot because I feel I’m good enough to beat Andre Ward in a 12 round fight without knocking him out.”
Poor Rodriguez, he doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into. Nobody outboxes Ward, and if he tries to do that then he’s going to be giving up his only shot at winning the fight and that’s by trying to KO Ward.
Rodriguez has a puncher’s chance at beating Ward, and that’s all he has. But to see how Rodriguez plans on winning this fight, it’s clear that he doesn’t have a clue and is going down the wrong street.
You hate to see fighters come up with a bizarre backwards strategy to win, especially they really have almost zero chance at winning in the first place. You want to see a limited fighter like Rodriguez focusing on his strengths instead of Ward’s.
By trying to box Ward, Rodriguez is basically handing him the victory before the fight has even started. It’s too bad someone can’t pull Rodriguez aside and talk some sense to him before his fight next month
Rodriguez talks about how this fight is going to be a chess match, and how he’ll adapt each time that Ward adapts. That’s not going to happen because Rodriguez’s form is too sloppy. His punches are so wide that you could drive a trunk in between his shots without touching either glove. Ward is going to see what I’ve seen from Rodriguez’s past fights and he’ll be looking to nail him with straight shots for the entire fight.
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