[Video] Million Dollar TKO: Edwin Rodriguez TKO1 Denis Grachev

We couldn’t let him go into deep waters, so we had to get him early. – Rodriguez trainer Ronnie Shields

Salle des etoiles, Monte Carlo — Super middleweight contender Edwin Rodriguez took the home the reputed million dollar prize for winning the Monte Carlo Super Four tournament via a first round technical knockout hammering of Denis Grachev.

Rodriguez completely had his way with Grachev from the first solid punch he landed . And even though Rodriguez made him look like a complete scrub, Grachev is far from that , as evidenced from his last three performances against Ismayl Sillakh (TKO8 win), Lucian Bute (UD12 defeat) and Zsolt Erdei (SD win).

Rodriguez, realizing Grachez was much slower and at a reach disadvantage, was able to bomb at will with haymaker hooks to the body and overhand rights. These shots were also used to set up another lethal La Bomba punch, the left hook. The writing was on the wall after the first two big knockdowns, and the ref let Grachev get brutalized over the last 30 seconds before calling it off way too late.

So what’s next for Rodriguez? He showed that at a catchweight of 171.5 pounds, his power can be a force at light-heavyweight. However, Rodriguez expressed interest in remaining at super-middleweight to take on Sakio Bika, who just won a brawling majority decision on HBO last month over Marco Antonio Periban. If HBO airs it and Rodriguez wins (which he should handily), it’s a perfect set-up to face Andre Ward in early 2014 if the Super-Six winner decides to remain at 168. Hell, they can dub it the “Battle of the Supers” (ok, maybe not, that sounds very cheesy).

Video Source: SweetBoxing