Trainer Marvin Somodio appreciates the nose-to-the-grindstone approach junior flyweight Andy Dominguez has taken to his professional career.
Dominguez won a hard-fought 10-round split decision over Byron Rojas on July 28 at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Dominguez's past four victories have come via a split or majority decision.
That stands to reason: Dominguez, 13-1 (6 KOs), has not had an easy road as a pro. He has fought opponents with a combined record of 58-7-7. His only loss came to Yankiel Rivera at flyweight, when Dominguez was fighting for only the second time under new trainer Somodio. He was supposed to fight in May, but that matchup fell through. Dominguez pushes on.
“I like his attitude,” Somodio said. “They offer him a fight, and he just says, ‘Yes.’”
Dominguez, a 27-year-old originally from New York City and now training in Los Angeles, found himself going back and forth over whether to return to the junior flyweight division, where he has fought twice before as a pro.
Rojas, 29-5-3 (12 KOs), held the WBA strawweight world title in 2016, defeating Hekkie Budler. Rojas, a 35-year-old Nicaraguan who resides in Holland, Michigan, had lost only to Thammanoon Niyomtrong, better known as Knockout CP Freshmart. The two fought twice at strawweight, with Rojas losing via unanimous decision both times.
“Our game plan was to box and try to break him down and try to hurt him,” Somodio said. “In the middle of the fight, I told him, ‘This is a very close fight.’”
Somodio acknowledged Dominguez’s fighter instincts, saying that when a fight gets difficult, he wants to bite down and exchange. But it’s an instinct he’ll need to hone and channel properly if, as Somodio believes, Dominguez is to reach his potential as a world titleholder.
“We just need to fight smarter,” Somodio said. “I think it will take a couple more camps and he will be more disciplined.”
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
