RODELA WINS A CLOSE ONE OVER KELLY
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 11 Oct 2008
Los Angeles, CA:- It was not pretty but a win is a win. For David Rodela, the affable kid from Oxnard called ?Peligroso?, that is exactly what happened.
Tonight at the Desert Diamond Casino in balmy Tucson, Arizona, Rodela was matched by the Golden Boy Promotions against an aging but wily veteran, Kevin Kelly.
Kelly, formerly of Flushing, New York and now a Las Vegas-based fighter is better known amongst Filipinos as a fourth round knock-out victim of Bobby Pacquiao. That occurred in New York last June 10, 2006.
The 8-round fight was so close leading up to the 7th round. It could have easily ended up the other way around if Rodela did not give the strong finish that he did in round 8.
In fact, while waiting for the verdict to be revealed, Rodela himself did not appear confident that he won, particularly after the score of the first judge was announced as 78-72 in favor of Kelly. He was seen shaking his head as if to say- ?well this one is not for me?.
However, when the scores of the other two judges ( 78-74 and 77-75) were announced and his name was called out as the winner by a split decision, Rodela leaped up to celebrate while flashing a huge smile that clearly showed the green colored mouthguard we humbly made for him. He then run to a neutral corner, got on the ropes and raise his hand in proud victory.
With his win over the aging veteran, Rodela improved to 11-1-2 (6K0) while the 41 year old Kelly fell to 60-9-2 (39KO).
Rodela, since becoming a sparring partner of Manny Pacquiao has become a darling of the Filipinos. In fact, his last fight was held at the Cebu City Waterfront Hotel last August where he won via a 3rd round TKO over Arnel Porras.
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