Credit: Team Rodriguez
The fuse has been lit for a super middleweight explosion March 17 on HBO between an undefeated Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez and Donovan “Da Bomb” George, live from the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Dominican Republic-native Rodriguez (20-0, 14 KOs), a 26-year-old fighting out of Worcester (MA), is genuinely excited about making his HBO and MSG debuts. “This is a dream come true for me,” Rodriguez said from his Houston training camp. “Fighting on HBO is the biggest stage in boxing, outside of a pay-per-view event, especially at Madison Square Garden. I’m extremely excited to be fighting for the first time on HBO. I will work as hard as I a can to win impressively on March 17th. Irish fans are going to love this fight because both fighters have the same entertaining style of fighting.”
Rodriguez is coming off of a 10-round unanimous decision victory (100-90 X 3) last October at MGM Grand at Foxwoods against previously unbeaten Will Rosinsky. Edwin’s other notable wins have been against Aaron Pryor, Jr., James McGirt and Marcus Upshaw.
“It doesn’t get any bigger in boxing than fighting on HBO in Madison Square Garden,” Rodriguez’ manager Larry Army remarked. “Edwin and Donovan will stand apart from the other world super middleweight contenders. We’re talking about two offensive powerhouses who will keep fans on the edge of their seats. The winner will be in a great position for a world title fight later this year. I don’t think that there will be a real ‘loser’ in this fight. Both guys are the type that fans love to watch and TV networks enjoy showcasing. Rodriguez-George has all the makings of a Gatti-Ward fight; they’re going to stand and exchange blows.”
Also rated No. 5 by the World Boxing Council (“WBC”) and No. 9 by the World Boxing Association (“WBA”), Rodriguez was a two-time U.S. national amateur champion in two weight classes, and is now the reigning United States National Boxing Council (“USNBC”) champion.
The 27-year-old George was born and raised in Chicago. The popular knockout specialist captured the vacant United States Boxing Association (“USBA”) title in his last fight, stopping Maxell Taylor in the eighth round last April in Chicago. George also holds impressive wins over Cornelius White and world title challenger Osumanu Adama.
“I don’t know a lot about him but I saw him fight the first time I fought on Showtime (April 30, 2010 – Rodriguez WKO6 Kevin Engel, George WDEC8 Adama),” Edwin noted. “He’s a good fighter…..but I’m better. He comes to fight and I do as well. I’m really looking forward to this fight. Not a lot of people get a second chance to fight on HBO, so I’m going to take full advantage of this huge opportunity.”
The 10-round, non-title fight between International Boxing Federation (“IBF”) No. 4-rated Donovan (22-1-1, 19 KOs) and No. 5-ranked Rodriguez has world title shot implications for the winner. The much-anticipated, action-packed fight between two of the top 168-pounders in the world will serve as chief support for the Sergio Martinez-Mathew Macklin main event on the DiBella Entertainment-promoted St. Patrick’s Day show, THE REAL Middleweight Championship – Get Your Irish Up.
