By John G. Thompson:Sometimes fights are closer than they appear on the scorecards, and this was certainly the case as Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (20-0, 14 KO’s) of Worcester, Massachusetts shutout Will Rosinsky (14-0, 8 KO’s) of Ozone Park,New York on the scorecards in a closely contested battle despite the wide margin of victory. Also, Gabriel “Tito” Bracero (18-0, 3 KO’s) originally from Puerto Rico and now fighting out of Brooklyn, New York, outworked Daniel “The Hudson Valley Kid” Sostre (11-5-1, 4 KO’s) also from Puerto Rico and now living in Highland, New York, in a lopsided decision for the vacant NABF Light Welterweight Title. The action took place at Foxwoods Resort in Connecticut televised on ShoBox: The New Generation.
2005 was a big year for both Rodriguez and Rosinsky; Rodriguez becoming the US Amateur Middleweight Champion and Rosinsky earning the same distinction at Light Heavyweight, indicating a natural weight advantage for Rosinsky. Both fighters are twenty-six, and though both have been very active since beginning their professional careers in 2008, Rodriguez steadily improved upon his level of competition, whereas Rosinsky only fought two fighters with winning records in his last six bouts.
Rodriguez clearly won the first four rounds even though Rosinsky continuously backed him up and was generally more aggressive. Rodriguez threw jabs and hard rights to the head over and over, but Rosinsky just walked right through it landing with a great jab of his own. As Rodriguez landed in the fifth, Rosinsky responded by yelling in the ring at Rodriguez, “I’m too strong!” Rosinsky then started coming on strong. The two traded blows the next few rounds.
Just as Rodriguez seemed to be on the verge of running away with the fight in the sixth and beginning of the seventh, showing confidence and superior ring generalship, Rosinsky turned the fight around. He stepped up his aggression, probably taking the seventh round. On a side note, I have no idea how the ringside commentators awarded the sixth to Rosinsky other than the simple fact that when you are busy talking during a fight, you might not be paying the best attention.
Rodriguez landed the best punch of the fight by either boxer in the eighth, courtesy of a left hook which momentarily stunned Rosinsky. That moment did not last more than a second, however, as he began throwing back while Rodriguez went for the stoppage, creating some of the best action of the evening. Rosinsky continued to fight well in the first half of the ninth, backing Rodriguez to the ropes and landing to the head, but Rodriguez controlled the second half of the round. The crowd chanted, “Ed-win! Ed-win!”
Rosinsky charged his opponent in the tenth and final round perhaps knowing he needed a knockout to win. Rodriguez tried to stand his ground, but Rosinsky connected with a big overhand right and outfought Rodriguez in that round. Surprisingly, all three judges scored the bout a shutout for Rodriguez at 100-90. Several of the ringside commentators acknowledged the fight could have gone either way, but felt the margin too great. I did not. Even though many of the rounds were close most went to Rodriguez. Even if Rodriguez won those rounds by a narrow margin, he still won them. I only gave Rosinsky the fifth, seventh, possibly the ninth, and the tenth.
Though Gabriel Bracero’s resume does not indicate he has much in the way of power, it should be noted that two of his three knockout wins came in his last two bouts (first and third round knockouts). Bracero also took some “time off” – spending about seven years in prison on a weapons charge. Sostre lost his last bout in July to undefeated Raymond Serrano and fought to a draw in the bout before that, coming of a one year layoff.
Bracero showed his aggressive nature from the opening bell, backing Sostre up and out outworking him throughout the bout. The crowd at Foxwoods chanted several times during the night, “Ti-to! Ti-to!” By the end of the second round ringside commentator Curt Menefee declared, “It’s almost like a sparring session for Bracero.”
Sostre had his best round of the night in the third, landing his best punch of the evening, timing Bracero coming forward and connecting flush with the right. He also landed a fantastic left hook while making Bracero miss, but this would be the highlight of the evening for Sostre, as Bracero stepped up the aggression. Sostre had some good moments when he traded toe-to-toe, but the night belonged to Bracero, who out-threw and out-landed his opponent, scoring a shutout on two judges’ score cards. The other judge gave him a single round, probably the third, awarding the NABF title to Gabriel Bracero.
In a non televised undercard, Dyah “Ali” Davis (20-2-1, 9 KO’s) from Coconut Creek, Florida won a unanimous decision against Darnell Boone (19-18-3, 8 KO’s) originally from Youngstown, Ohio and now living in Atlanta, Georgia. Davis is trained by Floyd Mayweather Sr., and himself is the son of a former Olympic boxer. Davis only won one bout in his last three, but that win was a fantastic upset unanimous decision over then undefeated prospect Marcus Johnson in April. In the other two Davis fought to a draw with Francisco Sierra and lost a decision to Aaron Pryor, Jr.
Boone won his last two bouts, most recently a first round TKO in August. Though Boone does not boast the best boxing record, in his career he fought seventeen undefeated fighters (and another seven boxers each with only one loss on their records). Some of the names on his resume include Edwin Rodriguez, Erislandy Lara, Adonis Stevenson, Jesus Gonzales, Craig McEwan, Brain Vera, Jean Pascal, Enrique Ornelas, and Andre Ward. Despite the experience, Davis won a unanimous decision against Boone with scores of 59-56, 59-55 and 58-55.