PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A bantamweight boxer from Chicago died of injuries sustained during his first professional championship fight.
Francisco Rodriguez, 25, who used the nickname "El Nino Azteca," collapsed after a referee in Philadelphia ended his fight Friday with Teon Kennedy, the Chicago Tribune reported. His family decided Sunday to remove him from life support.
George Hernandez, a Chicago boxing trainer, had worked with Rodriguez since he was a child. Hernandez was in Rodriguez's corner during the USBA super bantamweight title fight with Kennedy.
"More than money, more than anything, he wanted to be a world champion," Hernandez said. "I am proud that, in his last fight, he performed like the warrior that he is."
Rodriguez won a national Golden Gloves title when he was 17 and tried out for the 2004 Olympic team. A spokeswoman for the family said his father, Evaristo Rodriguez, was a professional boxer in Mexico and a brother, Evaristo Jr., had also been a Golden Gloves champion.
Rodriguez is survived by his wife, Sonia, and their baby daughter, Ginette.
