Rodriguez finally gets elusive gloves title

From the first time he laced up a pair of boxing gloves at the age of 12, Jay Rodriguez always wanted to be a Daily News Golden Gloves champion.
He watched the amateur boxing tournament on television several times and went to the Copacabana a few years ago to see sparring partner and reigning champ Danny Jacobs fight. Losing a split decision in the quarterfinals a year ago to eventual champion Peter Lawson only strengthened his resolve.
“It just motivated me,” Rodriguez said. “I knew I could be here.”
By “here,” the Glendale resident was referring to The Theater at Madison Square Garden, the site of the finals. And not only did Rodriquez make it to 33rd Street and 8th Avenue in midtown Manhattan, but the FedEx driver was victorious, realizing a lifelong dream by out-pointing fellow Queens native Edward Kennedy in a three-round decision in the 178-pound novice division.
“It feels great,” he said. “I can’t even describe it. I feel like I’ve deserved it. I put in so much hard work.”
Rodriguez later added, “Since I won the semifinals a few weeks ago, I think I dreamed of every way possible way I could win the Gloves.”
It didn’t look like he would have his right arm raised early on. Rodriguez started slowly, “feeling out” Kennedy, as he described the first round. After connecting on a few combinations to take the second, he landed a pair of powerful straight right hands that clinched the victory. “I knew I was ahead,” Rodriguez said, “but I wanted to seal the deal.”
The 19-year-old graduate of Grover Cleveland High School credited the title to the experience he gained sparring with Jacobs and another Golden Gloves champion, Will Rosinsky, at the Starrett City Boxing Club in Brooklyn. “I learned to train a lot harder,” he said. “After the second round, I looked over to Will and he just told me to fight like a champion.”