Erosa sounds like a dad already, and he also sounds like a wily veteran at the age of 34. Of course, 41 pro fights will do that for you, and it adds a layer of intrigue to an already solid matchup with the rising star Rodriguez, who has won four straight leading up the bout, while Erosa has made it a habit of upsetting rising stars.
“It’s a good test for a kid like Christian Rodriguez to fight me, and then it’s also a good test on the other end to see if I still can compete with these younger guys that are coming up that have a little bit of momentum behind them,” said Erosa. “And he’s coming from a good gym, as well, so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. I really like this fight. I know Christian Rodriguez is a tough, durable guy. He is one of those guys who is kind of like me where he’s patient and sticks around the fight until the other guy gets tired. And I’ve always been kind of like that, as well.”
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The most telling example of that theory was when Erosa faced unbeaten Sean Woodson in 2020, stuck around, forced the tiring Woodson into a mistake and submitted him in the third round. It was a master class of Fight IQ, and it’s what you want to see as a fighter gets older. Speed, reflexes, power all fade eventually, so it takes a strong mind to compete once the clock moves past 30. And while some say fatherhood adds motivation, Erosa was already pretty motivated before. It’s just different now. And better.