Three thoughts from Rodriguez-Rosinsky

MASHANTUCKET, Conn. --  Three quick thoughts from Edwin Rodriguez’s thrilling win over Will Rosinsky on Friday:

 1. A great fight. After the eighth round, revved-up promoter Lou DiBella (when is Lou not revved up?) powered past press row with a question: “When has a pay-per-view headliner been as good as this?” You know what? Lou was right. The hyped Rodriguez was a big favorite coming in against Rosinsky, a former national Golden Gloves teammate. But the granite-chinned -- and I mean granite-chinned -- Rosinsky turned a prizefight into a street fight, absorbing heavy shot after heavy shot while dishing out plenty of his own. Rodriguez and Rosinsky seemed to trade power shots the entire 10 rounds. When has a fight with no knockdowns been this good? Bizarrely, all three judges scored the fight a shutout. Right decision, wrong score. Rosinsky picked up three rounds on my card and was close in several more.

 2. Let’s see them both again.  With the Showtime cameras rolling, Rodriguez and Rosinsky put on the fight of their lives. They may not meet again, but both will get another shot at a big fight. Rodriguez is being groomed for an eventual title shot at super middleweight. DiBella, meanwhile, told me he picked up Rosinsky’s option and will match him against anyone outside of the top-five at 168 pounds. Certainly, no one will be disappointed to see either in the ring again.

3. More problems with judging.  After the fight, judge Glenn Feldman said “I tried like hell to give Rosinsky a round. I couldn’t.” How? Rosinksy clearly won the first round on my card and was life and death with Rodriguez in every one after. Did Rosinksy win? Of course not. But that three supposedly qualified, trained judges could not score a single round for Rosinsky is baffling. Far too often fans leave fights wondering how they could see something so differently than the judges did. This was another one of them.

-- Chris Mannix