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 Rodriguez Decisions Arnaoutis
Reports by Rick Scharmberg and Kurt Wolfheimer
Photography by Emily Harney
Danbury, CT’s Delvin Rodriguez (25-4-2, 14 KOs) retained his USBA welterweight title as he won a twelve round unanimous decision over a game “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis (22-5-2, 10 KO’s)in an action packed main event on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. Scores of the bout in favor of Rodriguez read 117-110, 119-108, and 118-109. Rodriguez worked off his jab the entire night to setup the hook and right hand. Arnaoutis showed his durability and tenacity throughout as he landed some nice counters in the losing effort. The six bout fight card was promoted by Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing.
IBF #5 Rodriguez started out working his jab in the first round as he followed it up with a shot to the body of Arnaoutis. Arnaoutis was able to counter with a hook but primarily kept a safe distance from Rodriguez.
In round two, Rodriguez continued firing his jab as he looked to open up combination opportunities. He was able to start landing the right hand off the jab and combinations to the body of Arnaoutis. Although Arnaoutis continued to throw punches from the outside, he was unable to keep up with the output from Rodriguez. “I knew that is the kind of fighter that he is. I didn’t think that he was going to run so much. I can’t say I didn’t think so because once he takes my right hand especially with my power, I knew he was going to want to box from the outside. I was going to have to get to him,” said Rodriguez after the fight.
Rodriguez continued to work off his jab well during the middle and late rounds of the fight. He was able to consistently setup combinations with his right hand. Rodriguez said afterwards, “That was the key of the fight. My coach and I worked on that throughout camp. That was the main thing of the fight. To jab, jab, and then take it from there.”
Arnaoutis continued to back pedal in the seventh round as Rodriguez continued to throw punches and move around the ring. A right from Rodriguez stunned Arnaoutis for a brief moment. He was able to come back with a hook to the body of Rodriguez in order to slow him down. At this point in the fight Arnaoutis’ face appeared very red from all of the connections from Rodriguez. Arnaoutis began fighting with a sense of urgency at this point as he started to slowly stand more toe to toe with Rodriguez which allowed for better exchanges between the two fighters.
Arnaoutis fired punches to the body of Rodriguez in the eighth round as Rodriguez countered with his jab. Rodriguez with a nice straight right and left hook combination lands flush on his opponent’s jaw. “I believe in the later rounds I started getting to him and started getting closer with my combinations and I split open his eyebrow that was it, that was the end of the fight,” said Rodriguez
 He was right. In the eleventh round as Rodriguez’s output has accumulated on the face of Arnaoutis, blood began streaming from his left eye. A right hook had Arnaoutis reeling and a flurry of punches from Rodriguez had him back peddling once again. Both fighters ended up on the canvas after wrestling around in a clinch.
Rodriguez landed a hard right hand at the end of the eleventh; however Arnaoutis still continued to fight displaying his solid chin.
In the final round of the fight, both fighters left it all in the ring as Arnaoutis connected with his left while Rodriguez countered. Both fighters landed jabs on each other and then both went to work on the body of their opponent. Rodriguez continued to land his jab. Arnaoutis landed two to the body with his left while Rodriguez counters with his right as the fight came to a close.
After the fight, Rodriguez spoke of Arnaoutis, “He is a kid with experience. He is in good shape and comes in really good shape. I knew he was going to do that all night, to move around, try to get away, and I knew I was going to have to catch up to him.”
When asked if he is ready to fight for a world title in the very near future, “Rodriguez stated, “I am ready to fight, you are going to see that in my next fight. We are talking about something really good right now. Something is cooking up but I can’t really tell you exactly what, but were back, were back man. My mind is stronger. I had so many bad decisions last year and just a terrible 2009, but you know 2010 I am very positive. I feel very strong, mentally and physically and I am going to come back stronger than ever.”
 Andrade Dominates Spruiell
154 pound Providence, RI prospect Demetrius Andrade (10-0, 7 KOs) scored a six round unanimous decision over an outclassed Geoffrey Spruiell (8-9, 2 KOs). All three judges scored the fight a perfect shutout for Andrade 60-54. Andrade used his jab as the key to victory over his opponent as he used that punch to open up other opportunities during the fight. Andrade had Spruiell in trouble at the end of the fifth round as well as other times during the fight but was unable to put him away in the end.
The speed of the 22 year old Demetrius Andrade was more than the 36 year old Spruiell could handle as he was beaten to the punch throughout. Andrade landed two jabs early and missed a right hook opportunity on Spruiell. Spruiell swings, misses, and slips on the canvas but was not ruled a knockdown for obvious reasons. Andrade firing punches well at his opponent as he moved in and out of the action well, displaying his great speed.
Andrade evades Spruiell’s attack in round two and is able to counter effectively with two rights and a right hook. Another nice straight right hand from Andrade and then he quickly moves out of the way of the counter from Spruiell. Again being very slick Andrade moves right back into the action by landing two solid rights and two solid lefts on Spruiell at the end of the second. Andrade continued this pattern in the third round as he continued to hit and move well. A right hand and a right hook from Andrade hurt Spruiell, however after a left hook to the body from Andrade, Spruiell seems to be able to stay in the fight.
Spruiell was left fighting with his back against the ropes in the fourth round as Andrade was able to pick his spots at will at this point. Andrade worked off his jab to land several punishing combinations, however Spruiell hung tough as he showed his solid chin.
Andrade continued to stick to his jab and combinations in the final round of the fight. Spruiell fought back with rights and lefts of his own but was unable to put anything together. Andrade landed a right hook to the ribs of Spruiell that had him backed against the ropes. A nice right hook to the body and right uppercut to the head of his opponent and Spruiell is still against the ropes. Andrade landed another body shot and then continued to stalk Spruiell while he is in danger. Spruiell clinched and wrestled with Andrade as the final bell rang. Overall this was a good display of talent from Andrade in the opening bout of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights.
Greene Decisions Gray
New York middleweight “Mean” Joe Greene (22-0, 14 KOs) kept his perfect record intact as he scored an eight round unanimous decision victory over Chris Gray (12-12, 1 KO). Scores of the bout were 79-73, 78-74, and 77-75 all in favor of Greene. Greene dominated a majority of the exchanges during the fight, many times by basically being first. Gray, to his credit, fought a good fight but basically took too many punches from Greene, which ultimately led to the judges’ decision on the scorecards.
Greene started out in the first round landing a slew of punches on Gray. He started out landing two punches with his left hand, then a combination to the body of Grey, which he was warned for hitting a little low. He continued working with hooks and straight punches with his left hand as the round came to a close.
Greene continued to stalk and then land on Gray throughout a majority of the fight as Gray was mostly on the defensive throughout. Gray fired off some punches in the second round that allowed Greene to display his nice slipping and head movement in order to get out of the way and be able to counter. Greene was again warned for hitting low in the third round after landing two to the ribcage of Gray. Greene frustrated his opponent in the fourth as he kept him away with a jab. Finally Gray had enough and lunged at Greene with a right hand that found its mark. Gray could not follow up with anything more as Greene went patiently back to his jab.
Greene again was warned for hitting low in round five by referee George Phillips. Greene missed on a left right combination attempt but then settled back in and once again began firing his jab successfully at Gray. Greene then parlayed his jab into a short right and left hook to end the round.
Gray realized he was in a fight in round six as he started landing with his own left. He followed that up with some hooks to the body of Greene as his opponent began clinching to slow the action down. Greene off the clinch landed a solid right hook with his opponent backed into the ropes.
Greene continued to work off of his jab until the final bell rang. Greene landed a nice right uppercut in the seventh that allowed him to flurry on Gray. Gray fought out of it with a jab of his own. He was able to land a few more punches but was not able to keep up with the output of Greene. In the end, “Mean” Joe Greene remains unbeaten as he continues to climb the middleweight ladder.
Muriqi Stops Bezabeh
Undefeated super middleweight Shqiprim Muriqi (3-0, 2 KOs) dominated Fasika Bezabeh (0-4) over three rounds before referee George Phillips called a halt to the bout at 2:08 of the third round. Muriqi landed several unanswered hooks on Bezabeh which prompted the referee stoppage. Muriqi worked well to use his speed advantage to basically cut off the ring from Bezabeh. Once Muriqi had Bezabeh backed into the corner, he would unleash punishing hooks to the body and head of his opponent. Bezabeh was hurt in each round of the fight but was able to hang on until Muriqi landed several unanswered punches later in the third round that sealed Bezabeh’s fate.
In Other Action:
Yan Barthelemy (10-2, 3 KOs) defeated previously unbeaten Roberto Benitez (6-1, 3 KOs) at 1:16 of round four as Benitez was cut on his right eyelid and was deemed unable to continue. Benitez had Barthelemy hurt in round two but was unable to put him away.
Yathomas Riley (8-0-1NC, 6 KOs) dropped Walter Foster Jr. (4-2, 4 KOs) three times with the third knockdown being the last of the fight. Referee Dick Flaherty immediately waved off the fight. Time of the stoppage was 1:20 of round two. It was the third appearance at Mohegan Sun for the 2006 PAL and National Golden Gloves champion Riley since turning pro there in 2008.
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