9-30-2011 Rodriguez in Steep Test October 21rst!!!

As Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez climbs the world rankings, the competition gets tougher and tougher. For the first time in his pro career, Worcester’s undefeated super middleweight (19-0-0, 14 knockouts) will face an opponent who also has a perfect record when he fights Will Rosinsky (14-0-0, 8 KOs) of Ozone Park, N.Y., in the 10-round main event of Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation” Oct. 21 at Foxwoods Casino’s 4,000-seat MGM Grand Theater. The fighters have something else in common: Both are 26 years old, and both won USA Boxing national championships in 2005 — Rodriguez as a 165-pound middleweight and Rosinsky as a 178-pound light heavyweight. They traveled together that year to China and other locations representing the United States. Rosinsky, a four-time New York state Golden Gloves champion, has fought mostly at or near 178 pounds as a pro, but this fight will be at a catch-weight of 169 pounds, plus or minus one. The fighters have one common opponent: Angel David Gonzalez was TKO’d in the third round in consecutive bouts, by Rodriguez in August 2009 and Rosinsky 10 months later. The fight could be for the NABO championship, although that’s still being discussed. Rodriguez, a two-time national amateur champion, already owns the USNBC title and is ranked in the top 10 by the WBC, WBA and IBF, topping out at No. 6 in the WBC poll. Rosinsky, who is a registered EMT, is unranked, but “is a very tough kid,” according to Rodriguez’s manager, Larry Army Jr. He is said to have a very powerful right hand. “This,” Army said, “is the first fight of our championship run.” Rosinsky, who fought out of Brooklyn as an amateur, has a large following of fans from New York, who will undoubtedly make the 135-mile trip to Ledyard, Conn. In his most recent bout in July, Rosinky scored a first-round TKO of journeyman Jose Ramirez. In the fight before that, he took a lopsided decision over Yasin Rashid (7-0). Rodriguez, who had been sparring in the Poconos with Chad Dawson to help the Connecticut light heavyweight prep for his Oct. 15 WBC title bout with Bernard Hopkins, is back in Houston with his new trainer, Ronnie Shields. Rodriguez last stopped Chris Traietti in the second round at Worcester’s Mechanics Hall, and he broke Traietti’s ribs with a body punch. Tickets ($50 to $125) are on sale at Foxwoods Casino, foxwoods.com, and at Army & Army LLC, 38 Front St., Worcester.