KO ARTIST’S CONFESSION: “I Like To See People Hurt On the Floor”

He said it, and no, his eyes weren’t exactly dead. He didn’t have an assassin vibe, didn’t give any hint that he’s on the sociopathy scale. But LeShawn Rodriguez talked about it and it was clear his pulse didn't start racing. He betrayed little to no emotion when he said, “I’m gonna knock him out. He’s been knocked out twice,” he said of his Nov. 25 foe at the MSG Theater in NYC, Alex Sandro Duarte of Brazil, on a Main Events card, “and I’m gonna give him a third one on his record.”

“Let me ask you a question,” I put it to Rodriguez, during his visit to the Everlast building to tape “TalkBox.”

“Knocking guys out…You like that feeling, or is any part of you conflicted when you do it?” I asked.

“No, I love to knock people out,” answered the 7-0 hitter, who boasts 6 stops. “It makes me feel really good. Like, really, really good.”

“Why?” I countered.

He hesitated. “I don’t know,” the pugilist said. “I don’t know. It’s a weird feeling. I just like to see people hurt on the floor. I’m not crazy or anything, but I just like to see that.”

Not crazy…but built differently, as the best ones are. To be able to invest in the action which results in separating a man from his senses isn’t exactly a deviant act, being that this endeavor is lawful. But being a knockout artist makes you a different brand of being…and makes your chances of being a breakout boxing star that much better.