OUR OWN BACKYARD

New Englanders have true love for just a few things, four seasons(not always), sarcasm, Dunkin Donuts, the saying "it's not the heat, it's the
humidity", and of course sports. Everyone in the Northeast knows and loves the four majors(Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, and Celtics). Some are even quite found of the assortment of minor league teams, and fringe sports, such as Soccer, and Lacrosse. I am here to tell you about a few people you should be looking out for, and supporting the same as you do your local teams. New England has a few up and coming fighters training in it's region, and they may be fighting in your neighborhood from time to time. So in the honor of the four seasons I am going to list 4 up and coming fighters you should keep and eye on.

Matt "Too Smooth" Godfrey 27,
Cruiserweight: 18-1, 10ko's
Providence, RI
PAST: Matt was a highly touted amateur fighter, and was a 2001 Pan-American Games bronze medalist. Matt won 6 New England Golden gloves , and went on to become the a Golden Gloves National champion in 2002. He was also a U.S. National Amateur champion in 2000, and 2004(Middleweight, then Heavyweight).


PRESENT: As a pro Matt has compiled an 18-1 record with 10ko's, his only loss taking place in Germany(a tough place for foreign boxers to win) to an Olympic silver medalist named Rudolf Kraj. Godfrey has saved his most memorable fights for national audiences, in his Friday Night Fight appearances he finished with early KO's of Shaun George, Felix Cora Jr., and Emmanual Nwodo. In the Nwodo fight, Godfrey rose from a knockdown in the 3rd to finish Nwodo in the 4th.


FUTURE: Godfrey is getting ready for the a title eliminator against former Heavyweight champion Herbie Hide. If he wins this fight he will land himself another title shot against the winner of the Krzysztof Wlodarczyk(41-2, 31ko) and Giacobbe Fragomeni(26-1, 10ko). I hate to be the guy calling that fight!!

Danny O'Connor 23
Welterweight, 2-0, 1ko
Framingham, MA
PAST: Danny has been a 4 time New England Golden Gloves champion, and went on to become a bronze medalist in the 2007 Olympic trials. 2008 was his biggest year as an amateur, he was not only an Olympic Alternate in Beijing, but was also the National Golden Gloves champion, and U.S. Future Stars National Champion. He was voted most outstanding boxer at the U.S. Future Stars tournament, and was featured in Sports Illustrated as a Face in the Crowd. Danny also holds a 23-3 victory in the amateurs over the eventual Olympic Gold medalist Felix Diaz.


PRESENT: O'Connor made his pro debut at the Verizon Wireless center September 17, 2008. He ended the fight against Jose Guerrido(0-2) at 1:55 in the second. Danny followed up his debut with a 4 round unanimous decision over Anthony Woods(5-10) at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, FL.


FUTURE: O'Connor was to fight on an under-card in New York city, but the fight card was scraped when the headliners pulled out. Look for Danny to keep very busy, while he moves up the ranks.


Edwin "La Bomba" Rodriguez, 23
Middleweight, 9-0, 5ko's
Worcester, MA
PAST: Edwin started amateur boxing career in 2001 and became USA Boxing National Champion at a 165 pounds in 2005. He followed that up in 2006 with a championship at the same weight in the National Golden Gloves tournament. In the end Edwin compiled an amateur record of 84 wins, with only 9 losses.


PRESENT: As a pro Edwin has been on the fast track, starting in January 2008, and finishing the year 8-0 with 5 knockouts. He may be the busiest fighter in the country, but at the very least he is the busiest fighter in New England. This past Saturday Edwin fought on the Andre Berto-Luis Collazo undercard in Biloxi MI. That was a good HBO card, and all the right people were there to see him stop Brad Austin(8-5) in the third round. His competition has slowly progressed over his first 9 fights, and he has done well, with a good mix of KO's and distance rounds under his belt.

FUTURE: After his fight Saturday night, hopefully a relationship with HBO will mainatain. Perhaps a few more undercards on big shows. He is now 9-0, he should start to get some exposure in the near future. He might wind up with on Friday Night Fights, or maybe even a Shobox(Showtime) at some point in 2009. Also, a move up to the Super Middleweight division is probably going to happen sooner than later. The Supers right now are stacked with bigger name fighters, so big fights could be on the horizon.

Demetrius "Boo-Boo" Andrade, 20
Light Middleweight, 2-0, 2ko's
Providence, RI
PAST: Boo-Boo has been boxing since he was six years old, and began to really impress in 2005 when he became a U.S National Champion. In 2006 he was a U.S. National champion, and a National Golden Gloves Champion in '06 &'07. Demetrius took home gold in the 2007 World Amateur Championships, and Silver in the Pan American Games that same year. Andrade also made it to the semi-finals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.


PRESENT: Boo-Boo made his pro debut in Washington with a second round stoppage of Patrick cape on October 23rd. He followed that up on November 29th with another knockout, this time in the fourth round, and in front of his home town crowd in Providence, RI.


FUTURE: Andrade looks set to make his ESPN Friday Night Fights debut on March 2nd at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. Demetrius has a split contract with two promoters, which should keep him very busy and move him up the ranks at a quick pace.