Angel Barrientes seeks to move past a single blip on an otherwise excellent resume

Boxing is unforgiving, and junior featherweight Angel Barrientes knows this better than most. At just 21, Barrientes has a loss on his record – a blemish that, fairly or unfairly, means he is no longer mentioned among the top prospects, despite his great amateur career.

Barrientes will fight veteran journeyman Edwin Rodriguez on Saturday on the Jake Paul-Mike Perry undercard at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The bout is scheduled for six rounds.

Barrientes (11-1, 7 KOs), from Las Vegas, trains with his father, Richard Barrientes, and coach Bob Santos. His career took an unusual turn early on when he lost to Travon Lawson via a fourth-round knockout in December 2020. Since then, Barrientes has won eight straight fights, and aims to make it nine on Saturday.

“It’s a big adjustment we had to make,” Barrientes said of his transition to professional boxing, “It’s definitely different than amateur boxing. It’s serious.

“I feel when we first started out, we were still learning everything about the pro game,” Barrientes said. “I’ve been in there with a lot of people, a lot of experienced people.”

For this camp, Barrientes’ main sparring partner was undefeated fighter Luis Nunez, who also works with Santos. This fight is crucial for Barrientes, as he recently signed a deal with BoxLab Promotions. He wants to make a statement against Rodriguez and hopes a win will propel him back into big fights.

“He gave some people some tough fights, but I think it’s good for me,” Barrientes said. “He’s going to be coming forward, and I’m excited. Hopefully, we can land some good shots, and maybe we could be the first one to stop him.”

Fighting on a Jake Paul card (even though not on the pay-per-view telecast) is certainly one way to get noticed.

“I know it’s a great opportunity for me, but it’s just another day,” Barrientes said. “I’m going to go in there and fight. It’s just another fight. So I’m excited, of course.”

Rodriguez (12-8-2, 5 KOs), 31, of Puerto Rico, is 1-3 in his past four fights, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Rodriguez upset unbeaten Edgardo Rolon Varela and had competitive losses to Floyd Diaz, Gabriel Muratalla and Dylan Price. He also fought Joshua Greer Jr. to a draw and upset Saul Sanchez. Rodriguez’s record does not fully reflect his abilities.

Entering Chapter 2 of his boxing journey, Barrientes hopes to move into the title picture in the coming years. 

“I’ve been working really hard, so I’m excited to go out there and let my hands go and we’ll see what happens,” he said. “Hopefully we could get him out of there. If not, it’s all good. I know he’s a tough competitor, so I’m excited.”