Two-time national amateur champion Edwin Rodriguez of Worcester, Mass., made a most successful professional debut Saturday night, stopping Samuel Ortiz Gomez by technical knockout in the first round of a middleweight bout scheduled for four rounds in Mansfield, Mass.

The 22-year-old, 6-foot Rodriguez had little trouble with Gomez, knocking him down twice and halting him at 1:22 of the first.

Rodriguez dropped Gomez, from Orlando, Fla., with a left to the body with but 45 seconds gone in the round. The second and final knockdown administered by Rodriguez came from a right to the head.

“I wanted to take him out,” said Rodriguez, who won the USA Boxing national championship for 2005 and the Golden Gloves national championship for 2006. “Of course, it’s early in my career, but I wanted to make a statement that I’m and up-and- coming prospect.

“I have every confidence I’ll be a world champ,” says Rodriguez, who has lived in Worcester since arriving in the United States from his native Dominican Republic during 1998. “I know every one who turns pro says that, but I believe I have the background and the tools to make it happen.”

Those tools include a large upper body, quick hands, superb technique, deft defense and outstanding power, all of which were on display the brief time Gomez weathered Rodriguez’s onslaught.

Rodriguez weighed 162 pounds while the 25-year-old Gomez, now 0-4, came in at 156.

Rodriguez’s next fight, to take place during February, will be announced soon.