By Ted Sares: This IBF Welterweight Title Eliminator at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, really involved two welterweight fights in one. The first featured a clash in styles between Delvin Rodriguez and Shamone Alvarez that showcased their technical skills but did not provide much excitement. But then, around the seventh round, an ebb and flow thriller broke out as first the Atlantic City native (now 20-1) landed solid shots on the taller Rodriquez, and then the Dominican Republic native responded with sharp shots of his own.
After the eighth round, Devlin mentioned to his corner that he may have broken his right wrist. As it turned out, that injury was fortuitous as it forced him to go back to what he does so well; namely, his jab. And even with the injury, he started coming on with right hands and took control going into the eleventh. During that stanza, he caught the granite-chinned Alvarez (whose only lost was to tough Joshua Clottey) with a hard right which decked him and gave D-Rod a badly needed 10-8 round.
Going into the last round, Rodriquez needed to fight from the outside or, if they fought in close, tie up Alvarez, but one of his weaknesses is his inability to tie up his opponent when he is hurt and it showed. And as quick as you can say “Jesse Feliciano,” he got badly wobbled by a punishing combo that not only had him holding on but that instantly and completely closed his right eye. However, Rodriquez (now 24-2-2) came back at the end to hurt Alvarez as the bell rang and the crowd rose and roared its approval in appreciation for a great second half.
Judge Glenn Feldman had it 115-112 while judges Joseph Pasquale and Don Trella scored it 114-113 all for Rodriguez. It was rock solid scoring.