If you were watching Showtime on Saturday night then you heard about it, and now it’s been made official. Austin Trout vs. Delvin Rodriguez is signed and sealed, and will take place on June 2nd, televised on Showtime as a part of a four-fight extravaganza.
World ranked junior middleweight contender Delvin “EL Peligro” Rodriguez has signed on to challenge defending WBA World Champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout on Saturday, June 2nd at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, it was announced today by Joe DeGuardia, President of Star Boxing.
“This is an excellent opportunity for Delvin and we’re very thankful to Showtime for broadcasting his world title fight against Austin Trout. Delvin’s been looking for big fights since his dominating win over Pawel Wolak in December at Madison Square Garden and was thrilled when we spoke about the world title fight” said DeGuardia.
“Delvin hasn’t fought on the West Coast since early in his career, and the Home Depot Center is an outstanding venue for boxing and he’s looking forward to fighting in front of the knowledgeable and supportive Southern California fight fans.”
Born in the Dominican Republic and now residing in Danbury, Connecticut, the East Coast fan favorite Rodriguez, 28-5-3 (14KO’s), has been a staple of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights for many years, having appeared eleven times and participating in numerous memorable battles.
In 2011, Rodriguez’s ten round war with Pawel Wolak was named “Fight of the Year” by the Boxing Writers Association of American along with numerous other boxing outlets. The unforgettable fight, promoted by Star Boxing and broadcast on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights, took place at a sold out Roseland Ballroom in New York City on July 15th with Rodriguez valiantly fighting to a ten round majority draw over the bull-rushing Wolak.
In the rematch with Wolak on December 3rd in front of a sold out Madison Square Garden crowd and broadcast on HBO Pay Per View, Rodriguez dominated Wolak in winning a lopsided ten round unanimous decision. Rodriguez brought the sold out Garden crowd to its feet in the 10th and final round as he went for the knockout and brutally battered Wolak, who was saved by the bell.
Rodriguez is currently world ranked #5 by the IBF, WBA and WBO along with #7 by the WBC. He previously challenged for the IBF World Title on August 1, 2009, losing an exceptionally close and controversial split decision to Hlatshwayo. Four of Rodriguez’ five loses have been controversial split or majority decisions.
Sporting a record of 24-0-0 with fourteen knockouts, Trout won his world title with a twelve round unanimous decision over Rigoberto Alvarez on February 5, 2011 in Jalisco, Mexico. He has defended it twice, most recently stopping Frank LoPorto on November 11th in El Paso, Texas.
