In front of a packed electric crowd, former world title challenger Delvin Rodriguez put the deeply talented junior middleweight division on notice Friday night with a dominating performance over game George “Comanche Boy” Tahdooahnippah culminating in a sixth round stoppage.
Fighting in front of a packed house of loud and proud boxing fans at the Mohegan Sun and broadcast live on ESPN Friday Night Fights, Rodriguez sixteenth appearance on the iconic series, the scheduled ten rounder was all in the Danbury, Connecticut native’s hands as he blistered the brave but outgunned Tahdooahnippah with power shots from the opening bell utilizing pinpoint precision with either hand.
After five plus rounds of Rodriguez’s continuous assault, referee Eddie Cotton called a stoppage at the 2:41 mark of the sixth round stanza.
Now 27-6-1 (15KO’s), the 32-year-old Rodriguez’s win was confirmation for promoter Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing who is looking ahead to a big 2013 for the popular East Coast fighter.
Delvin really stepped it up and he showed the skills and fire of a man on a mission to create another title opportunity for himself he looked fantastic and a performance like this in front of a huge, supportive crowd shows me that the Delvin Rodriguez is a player again in the jr middleweight division, said DeGuardia.
“This win should put him on the fast track towards a bigger fight hopefully in the New England area.”
The always-classy Rodriguez spoke afterwards of his dedicating the fight to the Sandy Hook Elementary School of nearby Newtown, Connecticut and the meaning of the tragedy to the father of two children.
The loss was the first for Tahdooahnippah of Lawton, Oklahoma, moving his record to 30-1-1 (23KO’s). Tahdooahnippah showed tremendous heart which was appreciated by the numerous native Americans in attendance.
In the scheduled ten round televised co-main event, 24-year-old lightweight prospect Chris Howard drilled veteran Bayan Jargal to the canvas in the third round as referee Danny Schiavone called a halt to the action at the 1:46 mark of the stanza as the game Jargal beat the count but was in no shape to continue.
With the win, Cincinnati, Ohio native Howard improved to 15-2-1 (7KO’s) while Jargal of Arlington, Virginia fell to 17-4-3 (11KO’s).
Impressive junior middleweight newcomer Enver Halili of Bronx, New York dominated Hartford, Connecticut’s Antonio Marrero over four rounds to earn a shut out decision victory by scores of 40-36 X 3.
The 24-year-old Halili improves to 3-0-0 (1KO) while Marrero fell to 0-1-0 (1NC).
