Undefeated middleweight prospect and two-time national amateur champion Edwin Rodriguez of Worcester, Mass., has added Peter Manfredo Sr. to his team as head trainer it was announced today.

 “Edwin has a tremendous upside,” said Manfredo Sr.  “He’ll certainly be a force to be reckoned with as a pro.

“He’s very strong and has a solid jab, good snap on his punches, great stamina and quickness,” said Manfredo Sr.

“But Edwin also has determination, focus and heart,” said Manfredo Sr.  “He has plenty of desire, works hard and wants to learn.  Edwin’s smart, too; he listens and understands quickly.  He realizes that being a pro is completely different, and that he has to step it up because he’s not in the amateur world any more.”

Manfredo trains approximately one dozen pros and amateurs, including his son, world-ranked super middleweight Peter Manfredo Jr.

“I’m really excited about working with someone as knowledgeable and successful as Peter,” said the 6-foot, 22-year-old Rodriguez.  “He’ll help immensely in getting me to where I want and expect to be, and that’s a world champion one day.”

Rodriguez has a professional record of 2-0 with two knockouts.  On Feb. 8 in Boston he stopped Fitzgerald Johnson in the fourth round and on Jan. 26 in Mansfield, Mass., he halted Samuel Ortiz Gomez in the first.

Rodriguez won the Golden Gloves national championship during 2006 and the USA Boxing national championship for 2005, both at 165 pounds.

“In Peter we’ve found the perfect trainer, a teacher who’ll give Edwin the solid foundation he needs starting out as a young pro,” said Larry Army Jr., manager of Rodriguez.  “Peter will help Edwin entrench the fundamentals, hone and take full advantage of Edwin’s natural abilities and attributes and allow him to fulfill his potential and reach his goals.  Of course, Edwin’s long-time amateur trainer, Carlos Garcia, will still be with the team; none of us would have it any other way.”

Rodriguez, who has lived in Worcester since arriving in the United States from his native Dominican Republic during 1998, considered competing for a spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, but the premature birth of twins, Edwin Jr. and Serena Lynn, changed his priorities.  Stephanie Rapa, Edwin’s fiancee and mother of the twins, is a graduate of Holy Cross with a degree in political science and has been accepted by the Western New England School of Law.