KO Digest exclusive Q&A with Edwin "La Bomba" Rodriguez!‏

La Bomba!

If boxing can be seen as a game of human chess, then super middleweight contender Edwin "La Bomba" Rodriguez can be seen as a Knight both in the ring and on the chess board. That's because like a Knight in the game of chess, Edwin Rodriguez likes to make unpredictable moves in the ring and he uses that unpredictability to set up his opponents for checkmate. With an undefeated record of 20-0 w/ 14 KOs, Rodriguez has checkmated all twenty of his opponents.

Rodriguez knows that boxing is a thinking man's sport, and by all accounts, he is a thinking man's fighter. Don't believe me? Then challenge him to a fight or to a game of chess and chances are that he'll beat you in both! In this exclusive one-on-one interview with KO Digest, Edwin Rodriguez discusses his recent SHOBOX fight with Will Rosinsky, the scoring controversy that followed it, and his love of chess, as well as other topics including his thoughts on the possibility of a rematch as well as the friendly rivalry that has now developed between himself and Rosinsky. 

KO Digest: Hi Edwin, on behalf of KO Digest, let me thank you for taking the time to speak with us today.

Edwin Rodriguez: Thank you for having me buddy, I really appreciate it.

KO Digest: I've heard that you're an avid chess player. Is that true, and if so, can you talk about your love for the game of chess?

Rodriguez: Yes, it is. I started playing chess in middle school. I learned how to play in the seventh grade. By the next year I was already the champion of my high school and we'd play against other schools. I did very well. I used to do tournaments but I haven't been very active lately.

KO Digest: Some people have called boxing human chess. Are there similarities between boxing and chess?

Rodriguez: A lot. They're very similar other than in chess, you don't get hurt. It's a thinking game. With every move you're making on a chess board you're trying to set up your opponent for the knockout and in chess it's basically the same, you're trying to set your opponent up for checkmate. It's the same mentality, there are times when you want to let your opponents think that they have something, and then you come back with a counterattack. Same thing in chess, you let your opponent take a piece but you have to be careful because it might be a trap.

KO Digest: When you fight in the ring, which chess piece is Edwin Rodriguez?

Rodriguez: I'm the Knight. That's because I make a lot of unpredictable moves and in chess, the Knight is very unpredictable. Like the Knight in chess, I can do a lot of things that my opponent is not expecting.

Knight takes King, checkmate!

KO Digest: Congratulations on the recent win over Will Rosinsky on SHOBOX. Can you talk a little about what it was like to be in there fighting so hard against a fighter you considered to be a friend?

Rodriguez: It was extremely hard and not just because he was a friend but because he was a very good fighter. A lot of people before the fight, they didn't give him enough credit but I knew how good he was five years ago. That's because we were on the same amateur team, I knew how hard he worked, and I knew how much he wanted it. So I knew more than anybody how good of a fighter he was and I knew the kind of shape that I would need to get into and how hard I would have to train to be able to beat such a good opponent like Will Rosinsky. The Showtime commentators in our fight, they didn't give him enough credit because they didn't know who he was. He was never on TV before, he got dropped by a guy who was 11-11, it happens but they didn't give him enough credit for being the good fighter that he is. But I knew, and I was prepared for that.

Rodriguez ready for anything against Rosinsky

KO Digest: Is that from sparring with Rosinsky in the past or is that from seeing him fight?

Rodriguez: We were roommates at one point in the amateurs. We trained together. We only sparred once and I don't really remember it so it wasn't because of sparring, it was because of all the time that we spent together. We were in camp for 4-5 weeks at a time together so I knew him better than anybody else.

KO Digest: Was Will Rosinsky your toughest opponent to date?

Rodriguez: Yes, for sure! He just kept coming forward. It was an entertaining fight and it was very intense!

KO Digest: It was a very entertaining fight to watch for boxing fans but let's talk about the controversial scoring. All three judges scored the fight 100-90, giving you every round. Was that an accurate reflection of what happened in the ring?

Rodriguez: No, not at all. I don't think so. The way I look at it, the judges had the right winner. I felt I won by 2 or 3 points. I'd say 98-92 or 97-93 would be OK but 100-90? That was definitely a slap in the face because the fight was much closer than that.

KO Digest: Have you watched the fight on TV since?

Rodriguez: Yes I have and let me tell you it's a whole different fight when you see it on TV and hear the commentators than when you don't hear the commentators. The Showtime commentators didn't give him a enough credit, therefore everything that he was doing that they weren't expecting him to do - they gave him more credit for it because they weren't expecting it from him. They all scored it a draw 95-95, but I didn't feel it was 95-95. I beat him by 2 or 3 points and I think that's what created even more controversy - the judges scores and the commentators having the fight a draw. It was a close fight, very entertaining every round but because it was so entertaining and because I was supposed to win easy - which I don't think was fair to him or to me - because we had the same level of amateur accomplishment. I just think because they didn't know him, he wasn't on the national scene on TV before, that's why they weren't giving him enough credit. So every time he did something they weren't expecting him to do, they were giving him more credit than they should have because to them, he wasn't supposed to do that, when in fact it was two very good fighters with good amateur backgrounds fighting eachother. It should have just been seen as a good close fight that I won instead of it being so dramatic with the controversial scoring. It's upsetting that such a good fight will only be remembered because of the judges who gave me every round. It shouldn't be like that.

KO Digest: Do you feel that the controversial scoring took something away from you and your victory?

Rodriguez: Of course. It took a lot away. It was a war, a fight that fans liked watching. I threw about 800 punches, Will threw like 600 and he kept coming forward with the pressure. So I do think that the controversy took something away from my win but it also took something away from a good fight.

KO Digest: Rosinsky has said since the fight that he thinks he won the fight. What do you think about his recent comments and is there anything to what he's saying?

Rodriguez: (sounding anguished) He can say whatever he wants. I think he went home, watched the fight on TV and saw that the commentators were giving him a lot of credit and that they scored it a draw. And so Will was like, 'Oh shoot, I could get away with this, I could actually make something out of it.' So I think that's what he's doing. I think that because the commentators scored it so close, a draw - he and everybody he knows now think they have something to say because of that. And definitely the judges giving me every round didn't help the situation either. After the fight, Will said that whether it's 96-94 or 100-90, he still lost the fight. Maybe I'm crazy if I'm making that up but that was his comment, I remember him saying that. Also, even his own trainer said on Facebook that he thought Will lost the fight 96-94 and his comment was that the fight should have been scored closer but his fighter still lost. That's coming from his own trainer! And now they want to backtrack because of the commentators scoring it so close, now they have an argument. I don't agree with the judges or the commentators.

He said what?

KO Digest: You were quoted in an interview that recently ran on Boxing Scene as saying in response to Will's recent comments to "stop being a punk." Did you say that? And as a pretty humble guy, can you talk about the frustration that would lead you to say something like that about a person you consider to be a friend?

Rodriguez: Honestly, I'm not going to sit here and say I didn't say that because I don't remember saying that but if the reporter quoted it, it's because I said it. I'm not going to be like Will and come back later and say that I didn't lose the fight when he said in the interview after the fight that he lost. I do apologize for my actions, but I let the emotions about the scoring of the fight and about him coming out in interviews and saying that DiBella or whoever - that the fight was already given to me before the fight even started. He got the better of me and I do have to apologize for that.

KO Digest: How would you describe your relationship with Will Rosinsky now? It's interesting that two fighters can be friends before and throughout a fight and then that friendship can be threatened by just a few words.

Rodriguez: Enemies in boxing fight and sometimes they become friends. Sometimes friends fight in boxing and they become enemies. It's different now. I'm not his friend. I'm not his enemy. Let's just say we've become rivals now.

KO Digest: Is a rematch with Rosinsky something you would consider or is Edwin Rodriguez moving on to bigger and better things?

Rodriguez: I am moving on to bigger and better things but I do feel that Will is a very good fighter and he's gonna do good for himself, and I hope that he does because I'd love to fight him again.

KO Digest: You've sparred with some real good fighters. Who are some of the guys you've sparred with and what did you learn from those experiences?

Rodriguez: I've sparred with Jean Pascal, Carl Froch, Daniel Geale, and Chad Dawson. I went into those experiences with a real learning mentality. I paid close attention to everything they did in terms of nutrition and strength conditioning. I really learned how a world champion boxer runs their camp.

KO Digest: As a body puncher, some people have compared you to guys like Micky Ward - that's very high praise. How did you become such a proficient body puncher and is that something that came naturally to you or did you have to learn that?

Rodriguez: I think it was a little bit of both. I had a couple KO's in the amateurs from body punches and in the gym I put a lot of guys down with body shots, so I think that's how it started sticking with me. I liked the way it felt after I put a couple guys down in the gym with body punches, so I brought it into the fights.

KO Digest: Were you surprised at how well Will Rosinsky stood up to your body attack?

Rodriguez: If I tell you I was surprised, I'd be lying. Will has a huge heart, I knew that coming in. My game-plan was to box, to stay on the outside, to stay busy and I think I did all of that.

KO Digest: Critics of Edwin Rodriguez would say that you sometimes brawl when you should box and that you're in a constant struggle between being boxer and a brawler. Is there any truth to that and what is that struggle like for you when you're in the ring and getting hit?

Rodriguez: 100% that's true! But I'm a fighter, and fighters fight. I do have a new trainer now in Ronnie Shields and we're working on fixing my mistakes and being more defensive minded but at the end of the day I'm a boxer-puncher-brawler. I try to do a little of everything and stay away from the brawling and getting hit with silly punches.

KO Digest: You mentioned your trainer, Ronnie Shields. What makes Ronnie such a good fit for you?

Rodriguez: Ronnie is a great trainer but it's not just that, he's also a great person. It's so easy to trust him because he's such a good person. When you're in the ring and somebody is trying to take your head off and you go back to that corner, it's so easy to be able to relate to and listen to somebody that you have such a good relationship with and that's the biggest strength of Ronnie- he's such a good person and he really cares about his fighters. Now with that said, he's also one of the few real teachers left in the boxing game. Boxing used to have a lot of great trainers, now we don't have that many so I'm glad to have Ronnie in my corner.

Teacher and student, Shields and Rodriguez

KO Digest: Can you talk about your relationship with your manager Larry Army? As a boxing manager, he's relatively inexperienced but he seems to be doing a very job of guiding your career along. Is this a typical boxer/manager relationship or is it something more special between you two?

Rodriguez: Larry is my best friend. Whenever I'm feeling down, I'm calling him, and whenever he's feeling down, he's calling me. He's my best friend, that really explains it all and he's really good at what he does.

KO Digest: Moving forward, there have a been a few names mentioned as future big name opponents for you. Kelly Pavlik and Allan Green. Now in terms of fighting a big name, who would you personally prefer to fight if your were your own manager and your own matchmaker?

Rodriguez: One of those two guys. There are a ton of guys in my weight class, super middlweight. It's a talented weight class. I just threw those names out there because they're top ten and I want to fight somebody in the top ten, somebody that will get me to that world championship level.

KO Digest: Who will win the Super 6 Finals between Ward and Froch and of the elite fighters in your weight class, guys like Ward, Froch, Bute, and Kessler - who do you think you match up best with?

Rodriguez: I think me and Kessler would be a great fight. I'm friends with Carl Froch and I was in camp with him. I learned a lot from him in sparring. Froch is a very strong, very powerful super middlweight and I think it's gonna be a great fight between him and Andre Ward because Ward has a very good style and Froch knows how to adapt. But my money is on Carl Froch.

Froch battles Kessler

KO Digest: As one of the top young contenders in boxing, what did you learn from the Rosinsky fight and the controversy that followed it?

Rodriguez: To think positive and to just keep moving forward.

KO Digest: Thank you Edwin, and good luck.

Rodriguez: Thank you for the interview and thanks to all the fans for keeping up. I just hope 2012 is gonna be a big year for me! 

KO Digest exclusive Q&A with Will "Power" Rosinsky!‏

Will Power!

Super middlweight prospect Will Rosinsky knows a thing or two about hurting people and helping people, and he's very good at both. That's because in addition to being an up and coming professional prizefighter, Rosinsky is also a certified EMT with the NYC Fire Department.

In this exclusive one-on-one interview with KO Digest, Rosinsky discusses both of his careers, his recent fight with Edwin Rodriguez on SHOBOX, the controversial scoring of that fight, as well as several other topics including his thoughts on CompuBox, judge Glen Feldman, and where he hopes to go from here.

At 26 years of age and with a record of 14-1 w/ 8 KOs, Rosinsky is poised to make a run at the top after putting his name squarely on the map following his outstanding performance against Edwin Rodriguez last month on Showtime.

KO Digest caught up with Will Rosinsky two weeks after his SHOBOX war with friend & rival Edwin Rodriguez. Here is what "Power" had to say:

KO Digest: Many fight fans might not realize that fighting is not your only job. Can you talk about your career as an EMT in New York and how you first got involved with that?

Will Rosinsky: I work for the NY Fire Department as an EMT and I love my job. It's a totally different way of living in terms of boxing. As an EMT, I'm trying to help people. As a boxer, I'm trying to hurt them. I got into it by seeing some promos for it at a local B&B and I took it one step at a time and ended up doing what I'm doing now.

KOD: How long have you been an EMT?

Rosinsky: I got my certification about a year and a half ago, but I've been working for the fire department since February of this year.

KOD: Are there any similarities between your career as a boxer and your career as an EMT?

Rosinsky: I think they are two jobs on different ends of the spectrum. In fighting, you are trying to hurt people, as an EMT you're trying to help people. Both jobs definitely take patience and just being calm in situations. That's a similarity they both have.

All in a day's work: Saving lives and kicking ass!

KOD: As an EMT, what has been your most memorable on the job experience?

Rosinsky: Actually, the day before I had my little vacation, my days off to get ready for the fight - we had a lady, a call came over for respiratory distress. She had a problem breathing, we got there and she was already in cardiac arrest. Myself, my partner, my Captain, and the paramedics who got on scene after us helped to bring her back and we got a pulse. We got her to the hospital in more of a lively state, she was still unconscious, but her body was functioning again.

KOD: It sounds like you saved her life.

Rosinsky: Ya, well, not just me. I had help from other people.

KOD: Let's shift to boxing. How did you get "Power" as your nickname?

Rosinsky: When I was an amateur, I actually had that name already, not because of any type of punching power but rather because somebody in the gym once told me while I was working out hard, "You just keep going, you have a lot of willpower." So from there, it just kind of caught on with the name and just in terms of having the will to just keep going and keep moving forward. So, it stuck.

KOD: You mentioned your amateur career, what was your amateur record?

Rosinsky: I don't know exactly, but I usually tell people it was around about 85 wins and 12 losses.

KOD: Can you talk about your amateur accomplishments?

Rosinsky: I won the Golden Gloves from 2005 to 2008. I was US National Champion in 2005. I won the "Outstanding Boxer" award in the tournament in 2005 for the Golden Gloves. I won the New York Metros twice. I won the Northeastern Regional once. I participated in the PAL a couple of times, the National Golden Gloves, got to the semi-finals and fought twice, unfortunately I lost there. And I was the captain on the USA team in 2005-2006 when we went to Russia, for the world championships and in Hungary for a duel. I was able to be the captain for that which us a good experience.

KOD: In the amateurs, did you fight anybody who went on to have any notable success as a professional?

Rosinsky: A lot of guys are still making that success. I fought only 3 or 4 years ago in the amateurs so guys like Brandon Gonzales who just fought the week after me against Ossie Duran, I fought him. I fought Marcus Oliveira. Guys that are undefeated now I fought and beat in the amateurs. Guys like Romell Rene, he beat me in the amateurs, he's had success. He's undefeated, 12-0. I had some good experiences.

KOD: Can you describe your friendship with Edwin Rodriguez and how that originated?

Rosinsky: They used to room the 165's and 178's together, so he was fighting at 165, I was fighting at 178. So he was one of the guys I got along with on the team because we were roommates, but not always. He'd always want to room with Demetrius Andrade who was from Rhode Island so they knew eachother much better. It was me, Edwin and a couple other guys and we just clicked being on the team together. We were in China together, we were in Hungary together, so I guess when you're with somebody often or when you go elsewhere, away from home and you're with the same people, you just start getting comfortable with them. And so we became friends that way. He's a real good guy and we just clicked.

KOD: Your recent SHOBOX fight against Rodriguez was very entertaining to watch. What was it really like from your perspective to be in there fighting so violently against a friend?

Rosinsky: You know what, you put all that stuff aside. It was actually a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. I knew it was gonna be a tough fight from the get-go. I knew the kind of heart that Edwin came with. So everything that happened, I expected which doesn't always work out like that. I expected him to be tough, and I expected him to throw good body shots. I knew that he wasn't gonna give in to anything, so a lot of it I expected and that helped me with the fight.

Rosinsky having fun in there! (Photo: Pattee Mak)

KOD: Have you had a chance to sit down and actually watch the fight on TV?

Rosinsky: I would say I've watched the fight 20 to 30 times!

KOD: That must be a very surreal experience for you. What did you think about the Showtime announcers, they all scored the fight a draw, 95-95.

Rosinsky: I don't want to say they were against me but they were underestimating me from the get-go. If you listen to them talk in the beginning, it's very negative, "Will hasn't fought anybody yet. Will has been brought up very lightly. Will has not been tested at all yet. Will got dropped in his last fight against a guy that was 11-11." And then when they spoke about Edwin, it was, "Oh Edwin has been brought up perfect. Edwin has great body shots. Edwin has a great trainer in his corner." For the announcers to actually round-by-round, switch to the other guy which was me and say, "Rosinsky is showing a lot more than we expected. Rosinsky is staying in there and being aggressive, I actually had him winning this round!" - that was a good feeling and I think I deserved it the way I performed.

KOD: By the way you fought, it sounded like you earned their respect, do you think that's true?

Rosinsky: Absolutely. I did earn their respect and I don't think they expected a lot from me so when I came with that kind of fight, which I told them I was coming with, I think they started to open their eyes and say, "This kid has absolutely come to fight." As a fighter, you always talk confident, no fighter is gonna go to an interview and say he's not ready for a fight. Fighters always talk confident but it takes action to actually prove yourself and I think once they realized I was talking confident but that was because I was being honest - they saw that I was really there to fight.

KOD: Let's talk about the controversial scoring. All three judges scored the fight 100-90. You called that a "mockery" at the post fight press conference. You also said that you were not busy enough in the ring and it seemed like you accepted that you'd lost the fight even though you were not happy with the wide marginal of victory for Rodriguez. Talk about your initial reaction to all of that and how, if at all, your feelings have changed about it since.

Rosinsky: First of all, people have been putting words in my mouth about that, that I thought I lost. I just felt I could have been busier. As a fighter when you go into a fight, you have a picture in your head on what you want to do. My goal was to be busier than I was. To say that I wasn't busy enough doesn't necessarily make me say that I thought I lost the fight because I wasn't busy enough. I also mentioned something about the scores at the post fight press conference. I said whether it's 100-90, 99-91, or 98-92 - it's still a loss. The point there I'm trying to make is that everyone is making a big deal about the 100-90 loss, but for me I don't even care about what the score is. The fight is over, I already lost the fight so even if it's scored 96-94 and I lost the fight, I still lost the fight! I didn't want to even accept the fact that I lost. People are making a bigger deal about the scoring rather than the fact of if it's a loss or a win.

KOD: Do you think you won the fight against Rodriguez?

Rosinsky: I think I won the fight, yes. If you asked me that the day of the fight, or right after the fight, I would have said that I'd have accepted a draw. The reason why I say that is because you don't sit there and count the rounds that I feel I won or lost right when you're done with a fight. I mean, you don't know! It's really something you have to watch first. I felt I put up a good fight. I felt I won a good amount of rounds but I can't say I definitely won the fight because each round was close. But then when I go home and watch it closely and I can see how much more aggressive I was and how he was backing up and how he was on the defensive; it's like how did these judges see that round as even close? He's backing up the whole time and he landed one big punch in the last 15 seconds  and they're gonna give him the round? Meanwhile, I'm aggressive and landing the harder shots, it's just crazy. But when you're in a fight you don't sit there and count the rounds. The fight was close, I would accepted a draw but when I got home ans watched it, I say I won the fight 5-4 with one round even or 6-4.

KOD: You were recently quoted in an interview by the Boxing Tribune and you made a comment about knowing "the fix was in" when you first heard the 100-90 scores. Can you elaborate, what did you mean by that?

Rosinsky: Edwin is the guy that they're promoting. Edwin is the guy that they're putting money into. I'm not the guy that they're putting money into. As soon as I heard 100, I didn't even need to hear the rest, I knew the decision was for him. I knew the decision was not gonna go 100-90 for me. Obviously, if the fight is halfway close and I hear 100 as the first score, it's like, "this fight is fixed" and when I say fixed, look I'm not gonna say the DiBella people paid the judges off because I don't know what goes on behind the scenes but that's gonna raise eyebrows to anybody who watched that fight even if it's ten years from now. Even people who have nothing to do with boxing are gonna say that something was going on there. That's evident. For that one judge, Glen Feldman - for him to say that he tried to give me a round but that he couldn't find one, it's just ridiculous because the performance that both me and Edwin put on, to make that comment that he was looking for a round to score for me shows me that he came to the fight biased. Nobody is asking you to look for a round to score for me. Score the fight as it is, you don't have to look for anything. You go round by round and score for who you think won the round, but looking for a round to score for me, that's ridiculous.

KOD: The CompuBox stats for the fight seemed to statistically justify the wide margin of victory for Rodriguez. Have you seen the CompuBox report?

Rosinsky: Yes, I have. I looked at it. It shows him landing some more punches percentage-wise. One thing that CompuBox doesn't show is ring generalship. It doesn't show how much a guy is on the defensive. A guy can still be a boxer and move and box, and still win a fight. I'm not saying that a guy coming forward getting blasted with shots is always gonna be the aggressor, or the guy who should always wins the round but I think those CompuBox numbers are a little deceiving.

How did CompuBox score this punch?

KOD: In the 8th round, he hit you with a monster left hook that seemed to stun you. Were you hurt by that punch and if so, how did you manage to take the punch so well and hide the fact that it hurt you by coming right back with shots of your own?

Rosinsky: I wasn't hurt. It was a good punch. I really wasn't  hurt and I think that mainly that is because I was in great shape. When you're in great shape like that I guess your body can do a lot more and it was only one punch. He didn't come back with anything. Maybe if he'd come back with something it would have hurt a bit but it was almost like he was satisfied with that one punch. It looked a lot worse than it really was because my head came back. I wasn't hurt. And if I was, I wouldn't have been able to come back. I tried to come back quick, just to show him that I wasn't hurt because I know that sometimes by the way your head goes back it almost looks like it had to hurt, but really - I wasn't hurt with that punch at all.

KOD: Rodriguez is known as a body puncher. You stood up extremely well to his body attack. What do you attribute that to and what is it like to be hit in the body by Edwin Rodriguez?

Rosinsky: It's all about being in shape. I was ready for that. I know that's his signature, going to the body, so we were doing a million crunches a day. He caught me with some good body shots, nothing that hurt me though but it was stuff that I felt. But it was nothing that took me off my game and made me stop what I was doing.

KOD: Promoter Lou DiBella said after the fight that he was interested in continuing to work with you moving forward. Have there been any developments between Lou and yourself in terms of what's next for Will Rosinsky?

Let's make a deal?

Rosinsky: I believe Lou wants to do more of a long term thing. There was something in the contract for the Rodriguez fight that he would have a three fight option on me. I think he wants to throw that out and do something long term. If the offer is right and the deal is right, I'm willing to do that. I do have a job, so it depends if it's worth it for me to leave my job as an EMT and do boxing one hundred percent. There a lot of advantages that my job has that boxing can't offer. I'm gonna cross that bridge when I get to it.  

KOD: What can your job as an EMT offer you that boxing can't?

Rosinsky:  A pension, health benefits, things like that. Things that people look past. Nothing is guaranteed in boxing. The money is great but I'm thinking long-term like what I'm gonna being doing in 20 or 30 years. But if the price is right, we can work something out and then I'll have no problem signing something. That's something that will need to be worked out and I'm in the midst of doing that right now.

KOD: How much was your purse for the Rodriguez fight?

Rosinsky: Fifteen thousand dollars.

KOD: The Rodriguez fight was your first scheduled ten round fight, only your second fight outside of New York, and your first fight on a major cable network. A huge step up and a big risk. In the end, was it worth it?

Rosinsky: It was worth it. I wish I had come back with the win but it was worth it. The main reason I took this fight, I knew it was a big risk against Rodriguez, but I knew that if anything, if I were to put on a great performance - and this is the honest truth- and I said this to my trainer, I said if anything funny goes on, like a funny decision or something ridiculous, the whole boxing world will be able to see it and that's the only reason I took the fight. Because it was on Showtime, and unfortunately funny things did go on but a lot of people saw my performance and a lot of people got to see what I'm all about. Now, if I would have fought him in the middle of Brooklyn or in the middle of Worcester, MA on a card where the place fits a thousand people and only a thousand people saw that fight, all that's gonna be is a sweep win for Edwin that nobody got to see and it would be me crying robbery and nobody would be able to say, "You know, I saw that fight." I have people I don't even know coming up to me at work and they say, "Oh, you're that kid who fought on Showtime and got robbed!" It feels good because people got to see it but it still doesn't take away from the fact that I actually lost, but at least people got to see it.    

KOD:  Rodriguez said after the fight that sometimes friends put on the best fights. Guys like Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward are an excellent example of that. Do you agree with that?

Friendly Pride!

Rosinsky: Yes, because you know eachother from a different level. I guess that makes a difference. I don't know why that's the case but I definitely agree with that. It's more of a pride thing, you have more pride when it comes to fighting a friend and I guess you have more to prove to eachother.

KOD: As a young up and coming fighter, what did you learn from the Rodriguez fight and from the controversy that followed it?

Rosinsky: Don't leave it in the hands of the judges! If I could knock out everyone in the first thirty seconds, I would but it's not that easy. The main thing I learned is maybe to look for the KO a little more rather than scoring points and I never do that because I'm not a huge puncher. I don't look for the knockout ever but maybe I should start.

KOD: Thank you Will. In conclusion is there anything you would like to add?

Rosinsky: Thank you to everyone watching, listening, and writing about the fight. I appreciate the support and look out for my next fight. I'm not sure when that will be but I can guarantee I will put on an even better performance than I did in the Rodriguez fight.