Unheralded blue-collar fighter Jake Rodriguez was never supposed to go very far as a professional boxer. Yet, he ended up not just facing some of his generation's best but also scoring a huge upset to claim a junior welterweight title in the mid-1990s.

Rodriguez, who was one of 11 children, was born on Arroyo, in the south of Puerto Rico on October 2, 1965. His birth name is Evaristo Rodriguez.

"It was fine because when I was growing up, my father used to have a grocery store. After school I used to help him," Rodriguez told The Ring. "I grew up in a family environment."

He began boxing in Puerto Rico when he was 14 years old.

"I used to put the gloves on with my cousins, but I never went to the gym," he said. "It was a carnival, my cousin said, 'Jake, you should fight.' I used to weigh 98-pounds at 16. That was my first fight, and I knocked the guy out in the second round."

Things progressed from there and Rodriguez had 11 amateur fights in Puerto Rico and won a regional title in nearby Ponce.

When he was 18, he moved to the East Coast for a better way of life.

"It's hard to get jobs if you don't have education," he said. "I had a brother in Long Island, and I asked him if I can come and he said, 'No problem.' So, I came to this country and lived in Central Islip and started working two, three jobs. I worked in a sheet metal shop, they used to make parts for the government, and I ran a machine. I used to work 6 p.m. to 12 midnight at the Mail Factory, sorting mail. I used to drive the little machine - I always drove."

Although he had a new life, he maintained an interest in boxing.

"I went to the gym in Brentwood where Buddy McGirt used to train," he recalled. "I started looking at the guys training and I talked to one of the guys, I didn't speak that much English and the guy said, 'Come over here whenever you want.'

"So, I quit one of the jobs and started going to the gym. I had a month-and-a-half [at the gym] and fought in the New York Golden Gloves in 1986. I did another 12 more fights, fought and got to the Golden Gloves quarterfinals twice."

Rodriguez, who went 24-3 as an amateur, decided to turn professional in September 1988.

"I fought a guy in Atlantic City, it was a tough fight, it was kinda close," explained Rodriguez, who settled for a four-round draw. "Sometimes you go to the guy's hometown and when it's close you know what that means. I think my purse was $450."

Unperturbed, Rodriguez, who worked part-time throughout most of his career, reeled off nine consecutive wins before suffering his first defeat at the hands of experienced journeyman Mike Brown.

"He was heavy," said Rodriguez, who tipped the scales at 141. Brown was five pounds heavier.

"I was hitting this guy with everything. The referee said, 'Step back.' And he hit me, and I went down. They gave me the fight to me and later the commissioner reversed it, I don't know why."

He returned and drew over six rounds with unbeaten Canadian Olympian Howard Grant before gaining more experience notching victories against the likes of veteran John Rafuse (UD10) and once-beaten Carl Griffith (SD8).

The opportunity came to go back this homeland and face an unknown up-and-comer called Felix Trinidad in December 1991.

"We didn't know who we were going to fight either when we went to Puerto Rico," he admitted. "My manager said, 'I've got a fight in Puerto Rico.' And I was fighting a kid, I think at that time he was 12-0. I fought Trinidad, we could tell the difference in weight, they say he was 140-pounder, it wasn't, his next fight was at 147-pounds, he couldn't make the weight.

"The first round you could feel the kid was tough. I went down in the second or third round but came back a little better, but I couldn't do better. After you get hurt you don't get your rhythm. We went to [win] a 10-round decision.

"Later on, when we talked and I told him, 'You're very good. You're going to go far.' And he did."

Rodriguez returned to the United States at 140-pounds and reeled off seven wins preparing for one opportunity when another came his way.

"I was in training camp with Pernell Whitaker in Florida because I was supposed to fight [WBC beltholder] Julio Cesar Chavez and they cancelled the fight two weeks before," he recalled. "Top Rank called me and said, 'Do you want to fight [IBF titlist] Charles Murray?' I said, 'Yes, I'm ready.' So, I went back to Florida for another week and then I came back to Atlantic City to fight at two-to-three weeks' notice.

"Me training with Pernell Whitaker, Raul Marquez, Arturo Gatti, all these big fighters [helped]. The fight was one of the easiest I ever had because I was so confident, it was so clear in my head and fighting for a championship was the biggest dream of my life. Nobody thought I would fight so smart as that. I outworked him, 100 percent."

While most fighters would bask in achieving their lifelong goal, what he did next was highly unusual but also a mark of the man.

"As soon as I was done with the fight I came home to Central Islip and the next day, I was the first one at my job at 8 o'clock in the morning," he said. "I used to work for a motorcycle place. My colleagues said, 'What are you doing here? Go home! I used to open up, but they didn't know I was going to be there because they thought I was still in Atlantic City."

Rodriguez bested long-time fringe contender Ray Oliveira (UD12) and stopped then-unbeaten 1988 Olympic silver medalist George Scott (RTD9) in subsequent title defenses.

"I threw more punches than Ray Oliveira and was smarter than him, same with Scott, he went down a few times," Rodriguez said.

In early 1995, Rodriguez headed to Las Vegas to put his IBF belt on the line against amateur standout and rising professional star Kostya Tszyu.

"He caught me at the beginning of the fight, I went down, I got up, I did a little better," said Rodriguez. "He hit very hard and was very smart. I kept coming back [after being knocked down four times in Round 6] but the referee Richard Steele said, 'That's it, I think you've had enough."

After two solid comeback wins, "The Snake" was offered the opportunity to step up to welterweight and face the then pound-for-pound No. 1 and WBC titlist Pernell Whitaker at the Convention Center, Atlantic City in November 1995.

"I took that chance, I used to walk around 148-150 pounds and fought at 140, seven pounds isn't that much difference," he explained. "I think I made $300,000 for the fight, career high payday.

"I learned a lot from him even before the fight because I used to be in training camp with Pernell Whitaker in Florida. I thought I could do better, but it happens sometimes, those kidney punches he throws; they hurt."

Rodriguez fought four more times, all defeats against good opposition including a Murray rematch (TKO7) and rising contender Shannon Taylor (KO3) before hanging up the gloves with a 28-8-2, 20 KOs record.

In retirement from boxing, Rodriguez stayed busy with his day job initially changing truck and car tyres. He is currently employed as a maintenance person at a truck company serving in several roles.

Rodriguez, now 59, has been married for over 30 years. The couple have two sons and live in Coral, Long Island. He graciously took time to speak to The Ring about the best he fought across 10 key categories.

Felix Trinidad: "He had long reach and a great jab, very fast. His jab was better than Pernell Whitaker's because he had longer reach and was stronger."

Pernell Whitaker: "He was very quick, he moves his legs very good, moves sideways."

Whitaker: "He moves so fast, for his weight, he moved very quick. You couldn't find him sometimes."

Kostya Tszyu: "Believe it or not Kostya Tszyu was kinda fast, he throws three, four punch combinations fast and strong. It caught me many times, I went down in that fight five times."

Shannon Taylor: "He didn't waste any punches. He'd wait for you to throw punches and then catch you."

Carl Griffith: "It's between Rocky Balboa and Carl Griffith. I'd say Griffith, he was a very strong guy."

John Rafuse: "Rocky Balboa, I hit him with everything and he didn't blink. I hit [Rafuse] with everything I could, body punches, head, everything."

Tszyu: "He hurt me. A very hard puncher."

Whitaker: "Felix Trinidad was very smart, that's why he went all the way. I think it was Pernell Whitaker; it was between them two."

Whitaker: "He was so quick, and he moved so smoothly. He wasn't a big puncher but he very smart, if you throw the right punches in the right places and hurt people."