Elvis Rodriguez Added to Stevenson Vegas Card Saturday
Elvis is back in the building.
Elvis “The Dominican Kid” Rodriguez aims to leave the building with one last knockout to end 2020. Rodriguez, who has four knockouts in three rounds or less since July, will face veteran “Lethal” Larry Fryers in a six-round welterweight contest Saturday at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Rodriguez-Fryers will be part of the ESPN+ undercard stream (7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT) preceding the ESPN-televised tripleheader (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) headlined by the junior lightweight battle between Shakur Stevenson and Toka Kahn Clary.
“I am grateful for the opportunities that Top Rank has given me and the effort of my team to keep me fit and ready,” Rodriguez said in a press release. “I would like to be recognized as Prospect of the Year. It would be a great recognition of my talent, effort, sacrifice and discipline. I believe that I would be the first Dominican boxer named Prospect of the Year. Representing the Dominican flag is a source of pride for me. I feel committed to bringing a world title to my country.”
Few have made as big a repeated impact in the Bubble in 2020 as @elvisTDK.
He's 4-0 with 4KO since #boxing's return, and the top Junior Welterweight prospect is hunting for more to close out his statement of a year. ????#StevensonClary | SATURDAY | Undercard on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/iMs41SzKvq
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) December 9, 2020
Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum added, “I have not seen a more talented prospect this year than Elvis Rodriguez, and with the incomparable Freddie Roach in his corner, he is in wonderful hands.”
Rodriguez (10-0-1, 10 KOs) is 5-0 in 2020, including a slew of highlight-reel knockouts since making his Bubble debut July 2 with a one-punch knockout over Danny Murray. He last fought Oct. 9 and knocked out the usually durable veteran Cameron Krael with a right hook in the third round. Fryers (11-3, 4 KOs), a New York-based Irishman, returns to The Bubble following a unanimous decision loss in June to unbeaten prospect John Bauza.
As for Stephenson he is 14 – 0 with 8 KOs and vacated his WBO 126-pound Championship earlier this summer. Stevenson won his first fight at his new weight June 9th, when he knocked out Puerto Rico’s Felix Caraballo in the sixth round and is looking to challenge for Jr. Lightweight World Title in early 2021.
Marquis Johns is a unknown humorist and avid boxing fan. His love for the sweet science goes back to when matches were 15 rounds and has been covering fights since closed-circuit pay-per-views. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth is not only a quote by Mike Tyson, it's also a pretty good reminder to keep your guard up.
