Edwin Rodriguez

By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten Edwin Rodriguez (24-0, 16 KO’s) feels his five inch reach advantage over Andre Ward (26-0, 14 KO’s) this Saturday night will give him fits when they face each other at the Citizens Business Bank Arena, in Ontario, California, USA. Ward usually has the longer reach for his fights, but this is one of the rare times where he’ll be giving up some reach to an opponent.

Rodriguez, 28, is going to need more than reach if he wants to win this fight because he’s a clear underdog going into this fight. It’s not that he doesn’t have the reach. The problem for Rodriguez is he throws a lot of wide looping shots that takes away his reach completely, and that’s not going to fly against Ward if he tries to fight like that. It might was work against guys like Denis Grachev, Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna and Will Rosinsky, but it’s not going to be effective against a talent like Ward.

By Scott Gilfoid: WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (26-0, 14 KO’s) has his mind made up that #1 WBC, #3 WBA, Edwin Rodriguez (24-0, 16 KO’s) thinks that he’s getting Ward at a weak point in his career when they face each other next month on November 16th at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California. Ward feels that Rodriguez believes that his year-long layoff following his shoulder surgery will make Ward beatable for their fight. Ward wants to count and prove to Rodriguez and all the doubters out there that he’s still the same talented fighter he’s always been.

Ward said “They think they’re catching me at the right time. I’ve been off for a year, 14 months by the time the fight comes around. He’s coming off a major injury so this is the right time to get Ward. They are going to be in for a rude awakening come November 16.”

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.

By Duke Pahulu: On November 16, Andre Ward is defending his ring title against Edwin Rodriguez. On fight night, its going to be 14 months since he last fought destroying then light heavyweight champ Chad Dawson.

The Dawson fight was Ward’s first fight on HBO since winning Showtime’s Super Six tournament. The Dawson win had people thinking Ward was going to one day take the mantle Floyd Mayweather sits on as the pound for pound king.

He was originally set to face former middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik in the first quarter of the year but Ward injured his shoulder and Pavlik retired. As Ward went through surgery and rehab, the landscape around his weight class was changing. Carl Froch beat Kessler in a rematch and established himself as the clear number one contender for Ward’s throne.

By Scott Gilfoid: WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (26-0, 14 KO’s) will make his long awaited return to the ring on November 16th against unbeaten Edwin Rodriguez (24-0 16 KO’s) in a fight that will be televised by HBO from the Citizens Business Bank Arena, in Ontario, California, USA.

The promoters for Ward and Rodriguez have gone around in circles in putting this fight together, but they finally were able to iron out a deal to stage the fight.

This isn’t the fight that Ward wanted because he’s coming off of shoulder surgery and he was hoping to get an easier bout against the likes of Stanyslav Kastanov or Dimitri Sartison, but HBO wanted Rodriguez because it would mean better ratings.

By Scott Gilfoid: Super middleweight Andre Ward (26-0, 14 KO’s) is saying that he signed his bout agreement for a fight against unbeaten ##1 WBC, #3 WBA, 3 IBF, #6 WBO, Edwin Rodriguez (24-0, 16 KO’s) on November 16th on HBO. There still isn’t a venue for the fight yet, but Dan Rafael is saying that the fight won’t take place in Ward’s home city of Oakland, California.