THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 18, 1995 TAG: 9511181512
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
The morning after Jake Rodriguez won a world championship, he showed up for his job as a motorcycle mechanic.
Boxing alone provides Rodriguez an income these days, so Sunday morning he can sleep in.
Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker's trainer thinks Whitaker may help Rodriguez get an early start on some shut-eye tonight. Whitaker and Rodriguez meet at the Atlantic City Convention Center with Whitaker's World Boxing Council welterweight title on the line.
Rodriguez helped Whitaker prepare for his last two title defenses as a sparring partner. Tonight, Rodriguez will try to put some of his inside knowledge of the champ from Virginia Beach to good use.
But Whitaker's camp knows Rodriguez well also - well enough that trainer Ronnie Shields is confident Whitaker can score a KO.
``I wouldn't be surprised if Pete drops him,'' Shields said.
That's an uncommon boast from the Whitaker camp. Whitaker's last knockout in a world title fight was in August 1990, when he unified the lightweight division by flooring Juan Nazario in the first round.
Shields said he worked during training camp on changing the southpaw Whitaker to a righthanded style sometimes when fighting inside. The intent is to surprise Rodriguez, and hopefully catch him with some left hooks out of the righty stance.
``He knows Pete; that's why I've got Pete doing this switcheroo here,'' Shields said. ``If he catches Jake with a good left-hand hook, he's going to hurt Jake.''
Whitaker is 15-1-1 in world title fights.
Rodriguez is 3-1 in world title fights. He beat Charles Murray for the International Boxing Federation junior welterweight title Feb. 13, 1994, in Atlantic City. Early the next morning, he was ready to go a few rounds with motorcycle engines in West Islip, N.Y.
``I'm a hard-working guy,'' Rodriguez said. ``It's the way my father raised me. ``They sent me home that day at 12 o'clock. They said, `What are you doing here, are you crazy?' ''
The Puerto Rico native lost his title by knockout to Konstantin Tszyu on Jan. 28. He quit his mechanic job about a month later.
Rodriguez, a southpaw, is a career junior welterweight moving up to 147 pounds for the first time.
Rodriguez said he learned a lot working as Whitaker's sparring partner five or six rounds a day in Whitaker's previous two training camps. He said he's incorporated some of Whitaker's moves.
``He's got a great jab,'' Rodriguez said. ``A lot of people say he don't have no power, but he's got some punch. I have to fight him inside. I have to take his jab away and hurt him in the body.''
Whitaker also intends to do some body work on the former mechanic.
``I'm going to try to cut him down in the first half of the fight, wear him down so he'll be easy in the later rounds,'' Whitaker said.
Shields said Rodriguez is a slow starter. He wants Whitaker to capitalize by throwing 105-110 punches in the first round, 90-95 in the second and 105-110 again in the third. Then, in the fourth, Shields wants Whitaker to fight on the outside and throw about 85.
In training, someone has been at ringside with a clicker, counting punches to chart Whitaker's work.
``I really want Pete to push him,'' Shields said. ``We're really going to attack Jake's body. If we hurt him to the body, I don't think he can go 12 rounds with Pete.'' by CNB