Welterweight Champion Curry Stops Rodriguez in 2nd, Looks to Move Up

Donald Curry made his first and last defense of the undisputed welterweight championship Sunday and a frenzied hometown crowd loved every brief minute of it.

Curry caught Eduardo Rodriguez of Panama with a crashing left-right to the head and knocked him out at 2:29 of the second round of a scheduled 15-round fight. The standing-room-only crowd in the 8,600-seat Will Rogers Coliseum roared its approval.

“The crowd made me a little nervous,” said Curry, who was more awed by his enthusiastic reception than by his opponent, whose awkward style helped get him through the first round.

But when Curry found the range early in the second round, it was obvious that his reign as welterweight champion would continue.

It also will end soon.

Curry plans to move to the junior middleweight division and there is talk he will challenge Mike McCallum, the World Boxing Assn. 154-pound class champion on June 23 in Las Vegas. Curry’s goal is three world championships and that could mean a big-money match against Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who defends the undisputed middleweight title tonight at Las Vegas against John Mugabi.

“I am definitely looking forward to fighting Marvin,” Curry said. “McCallum first, then Hagler.”

When the end for Rodriguez came, the challenger remained on the floor for almost five minutes after being counted out by referee Hubert Earle.

After the fight, Rodriguez, who left the ring on his own power, said he couldn’t get up because “it was a muscle cramp.”

“I think it was a left hook,” Curry said.

“He was out for over two minutes,” said Dr. James E. Marr.