By Allan Fox: #5 WBA, #10 IBF 175lb contender Edwin Rodriguez (27-1, 18 KOs) will be back inside the ring tonight to face 33-year-old Michael Seals (19-0, 14 KOs) in a scheduled 10 round fight on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike TV from the Beaux Rivage Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Rodriguez, 30, needs a win over Seals tonight in order to keep alive his chances for a world title shot against WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson. There’s a good chance that Rodriguez could get a title shot against Stevenson in 2016.

If so, this would be the hardest fight that Stevenson has had in quite some time, as Rodriguez has the size, power and boxing skills to give him a real test.

Rodriguez was soundly beaten by former WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward two years ago in their fight in 2013. At the time, Rodriguez was struggling badly to make the 168lb weight limit for the fight. The problems that Rodriguez went through to get down to the limit left him weakened, and unable to fight at a high enough level to be competitive. Rodriguez isn’t blaming his defeat to Ward on his weight though. He gives Ward full credit for beating him in that fight.

“I have a nutritionist that I see every three weeks,” Rodriguez said via ESPN.com. “I couldn’t make weight when I was going to fight Andre Ward. Making weight takes a lot of dedication. Going into my fight with Andre Ward, my mentality was changed. You already lost to the scale before you even stepped in the ring. It’s your body telling you that you can’t make weight, you can’t do it anymore. It does bother you. I refuse to blame my loss on anything. I think he was a better fighter that night. I’m trying to make my mark at 175 and maybe down the road, I can get a rematch against him.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UKICKXZzNE

Rodriguez has won his last three fights since moving up to 175 in 2014. He’s beaten Derrick Findley, Craig Baker and Azea Augustama.

Seals is a tall fighter at 6’3”, and he’s got the power and size to make it interesting for Rodriguez for as long as this fight lasts. However, Rodriguez has the much better pedigree in this fight, and it’s going to make it awfully difficult for Seals to compete. We’re talking about a fighter who is going from fighting the likes of Carlos Reyes (7-5-1), Willis Lockett (13-12-5) and Steve Walker (26-3) to facing one of the best fighters in the 175lb division in Edwin Rodriguez. It’s going to be very difficult for Seals to be able to compete tonight against Rodriguez unless he can adapt quickly to the big leap up in competition.

Tonight’s Rodriguez vs. Seals fight card starts at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The fight is on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike TV. It should give fans a glimpse of a future challenger for Adonis Stevenson in Rodriguez, and I suspect the fans will like what they see in him. Rodriguez is a lot better fighter than he showed in his loss to Ward two years ago.

If Rodriguez had remained at super middleweight, he likely would be a world champion by now, because he would match-up really well against the likes of Badou Jack, James DeGale and Arthur Abraham, all of which are current world champions in the 168lb division. It’s just unfortunate for Rodriguez that he had to move up in weight because things are a lot tougher at 175 due to the guys like Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev being in the division.

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Also on tonight’s PBC card is light heavyweight Thomas Williams Jr. (18-1, 12 KOs) looking to get his career back on course with a fight against Humberto Savigne (12-2, 9 KOs). Williams was beaten by Gabriel Campillo by a 5th round knockout last year in August 2014. It was a case of Williams not being ready for fighter as advanced as Campillo at the time.

Since then, Williams Jr. has beaten Michael Gbenga by a 10 round decision last December. The 36-year-old Savigne is coming off of a 2nd round knockout in his last fight to Craig Baker in February of this year. Savigne stopped Jeff Lacy in the 2nd round last year in July. He clearly has some pop in his punches, and he could give Williams Jr. a lot of problems tonight if he’s unable to get away from his big power shots.