Worcester's Edwin Rodriguez Fights Biggest Battle Outside Boxing Ring (Video)

Edwin Rodriguez had reason to believe he was going to be an Olympic boxer.

Rodriguez, a Worcester, Mass., native by way of the Dominican Republic, had established himself as one of the best super-middleweight boxers in the country and was a strong hopeful for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

But as he was preparing to do so, an event that usually brings joy to a man's life put his boxing career on hold and cost him an opportunity to fight in the Olympics.

That's because Rodriguez's wife, Stephanie Rapa, gave birth to the couple's twins, although she did so prematurely, only 23 weeks into her pregnancy in November of 2006.

The premature birth of the twins halted Rodriguez's training for the Olympic qualifying trials.

Rodriguez's manager, Larry Army, said that Rodriguez was "definitely one of the favorites to make the U.S. Olympic team."

But despite the young boxer's hopes and dreams of participating on the biggest stage, he knew what he had to do. He needed to be by his wife's side as their kids battled for their lives.

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