Now a pro, Haymarket boxer has title ambitions

Thoughts of being a world champion boxer keep Juan Rodriguez awake at night.

By all accounts, he stands a chance.

Rodriguez, a 2008 graduate of Battlefield High School, recently won his professional debut in Upper Marlboro, Md.

"It feels good after all that hard work you put in," the 18-year-old said of winning his first professional bout. "I did it for my family, for the people I train with and everything. It just felt good winning."

Bobby Magruder of Waldorf, Md., promoted the junior welterweight fight when Rodriguez knocked out Benjamin Borteye of Silver Spring, Md., in the third round of a fight scheduled for four rounds.

Magruder said Rodriguez "electrified" the boxing fans in the Equestrian Center at the Showplace Arena on Nov. 7.

"He looked fantastic. He lit up the crowd, I can tell you that," Magruder said. "The crowd stood up for the whole fight. They didn't even sit down between rounds it was so exciting. He stole the show."

Jim Ed Jones coaches Rodriguez at the Olympia Boxing Center in Falls Church and said the Haymarket fighter is the best boxer with whom he's ever worked.

"I've been in the same gym for 30 years ... and I've taken two guys to the world championships. This kid has more natural ability than any of the guys I took to the world title," Jones said.

The other two fighters didn't win. Jones figures Rodriguez will be his third-time charm.

Gary "Digital" Williams, a features writer for Fightnews.com and a former play-by-play announcer for the television series "Boxing Spotlight," wrote on his blog "Boxing Along the Beltway" that the Rodriguez-Borteye fight was "best bout in the Beltway region in 2008."

With all of that said, there is a danger in the beginnings of a reputation and all of the talk about world championships.

Magruder said Rodriguez would have to be brought along slowly and he'll have to watch his step.

"Everybody's going to be going after him because of his age. They're going to try to bump him off. They're going to look at his weaknesses because he doesn't have the experience," Magruder said. "The fight game is a cruel thing."

Rodriguez plans to beat the odds in the game that's been his obsession for years.

His parents,who are naturalized Americans from El Salvador, used to take him to El Salvador for summer vacations but had to bring him back early because of his street fighting.

"I've always liked contact sports," said Rodriguez, a scope technician in the endoscopy department at Fair Oaks Hospital.

Rodriguez started watching boxing when he was young, and at 14 finally talked his parents into letting him take boxing lessons at Jones' Olympia Boxing School.

Jones said Rodriguez won all but a couple of his 16 amateur bouts, and the ones he lost, he lost early on.

Rodriguez wanted to go professional when he turned 18, and Jones obliged.

"One of the main reasons I took him out of amateur boxing is because I was afraid he was going to hurt one of those amateurs," Jones said.

Rodriguez loves the movie "Rocky," and goes by Juan "Savior" Rodriguez in the ring. The nom de guerre signifies that he is fighting for his parents' home country of El Salvador.

"I would see that other countries had their own champ and El Salvador didn't have a champion, so I wanted to represent it," Rodriguez said.

Still, he said he doesn't want to forget the United States and fights for it as well.

"I was born here and I'm living here now," he said.

Jones said that type of motivation is uncommon.

"It's rare to meet a kid that has deep country ties and he wants to represent both of his countries," Jones said.

Jones said he plans to be cautious in the fights he picks for Rodriguez and sees the trek to the championship taking years.

"By the time he's 22 he's going to be one of the top 10 in the world, and we're going to be ready for a big world title fight," Jones said.

Rodriguez said he can be patient.

"If I train hard and I put my mind to it—anyone can do anything, if they train hard—I just have to stick with it and do everything my coach tells me to do and I think I'll have a pretty good chance, maybe," he said.

Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.