By Mitch Abramson

 

His facial expression said it all. As the wide scores were read from his fight with Edwin Rodriguez on Oct. 21, a large, knowing smile spread across the face of Will Rosinsky. A fight that most people thought was a draw or at the very least was razor close, was ruled a shutout for Rodriguez, by scores of 100-90, 100-90, 100-90 from the judges Clark Sammartino, Glenn Feldman and Peter Hary. At first, Rosinsky was frustrated by the scores, as evidenced by his expression in the ring. He had fought well, perhaps better than a lot of people thought, and he thought he deserved better. But as the days went by, Rosinsky came to view the scores as a blessing.

For a fighter who was perhaps mostly unknown before the fight was broadcast nationally on Showtime on ShowBox, the bizarre scoring not only called attention to the conduct of judges, it also brought attention to Rosinsky, who fought well, on equal footing, against the undefeated, hard-hitting Rodriguez.

“At first I was mad, I was in shock,” Rosinsky said in a phone interview. “I think 96-94 [for Rodriguez] would have been more acceptable. But the fact that it was such a ridiculous score almost opened a lot of people’s eyes. So it was better in a sense, than if I had just lost a close decision. If the scores weren’t so ridiculous, then a lot of people would have just forgotten about the fight. But because they were what they were, it makes the fight a lot more memorable.”

And that’s good for Rosinsky, because his career had been mostly unremarkable before his fight with Rodriguez, even if he was undefeated. Rosinsky, an accomplished amateur who won the New York Golden Gloves four times, had fought all his fights in the pros locally, in New York against a mostly forgettable bunch. Fighting at times down to his competition, Rosinsky, who works as an EMT for the fire department, seemed to be running in place as he ran his record to 14-0 with eight knockouts. When the opportunity presented itself to face Rodriguez, a friend from the amateurs who was also undefeated at 19-0 and had created a buzz, Rosinsky jumped at the fight, even if the money wasn’t great at $20,000.

“It was the right opportunity for me,” he said. “And it was definitely worth the risk. I don’t care about the money. I would have never fought a guy like that on a local show. The fact that it played out like it did was the exact reason why I took the fight. It brought my stock up.”

He hopes to be back in the ring sometime early next year. Rosinsky is currently in negotiations with his promoter Lou DiBella on a long-term contract, according to Keith Connolly, Rosinsky’s advisor. Connolly said the goal is for Rosinsky to have one more warm-up fight. perhaps in February or March and then another step-up fight on Showtime.

Rosinsky didn’t sustain any cuts or bruises in the fight with Rodriguez other than a little bruise in the corner of his left eye. He wants an immediate rematch but doesn’t think Rodriguez is so keen on that idea.

“It’s a risk for them and they got away with a lucky one,” Rosinsky says. “My goal now is to beat a couple of guys, work my way up and then force a rematch.”