Rodela faces Cruz in 'Fight Night Club' main event

David Rodela hasn’t had success in 2010 but rest assured he has gone down swinging.

The product of Oxnard, Calif., who almost lost a leg in a horrible car crash as an amateur but returned to the sport he loves, is one of the more high-intensity and entertaining young fighters in Southern California.

That doesn’t always translate to victories. He lost considerable momentum – he had won eight in a row --- when he was outpointed by unbeaten Eloy Perez in January and then stopped by Dante Jordan in three rounds in his most-recent fight, in March.

However, again, bouncing back is his specialty. Rodela fights big-punching Puerto Rican Eric Cruz in the eight-round lightweight main event of the Fight Night Club card Thursday at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles. The card will be streamed live on RingTV.com beginning at 8 p.m PT and televised on Fox Sports Net or one of its affiliates.

Cruz (7-2-3, 7 KOs) is 2-0-1 in his last three fights. He’s coming off a first-round technical draw against Gamalier Rodriguez in February, the result of a cut above Cruz’s eye that was caused by an accidental head butt.

The undercard is deep. Eighteen-year-old prospect Frankie Gomez, a silver medalist in last year’s world amateur championships, faces Akeem Akinbode (0-2) in a four-round junior welterweight bout. Gomez is 2-0 (with two knockouts) in his young career.

And Jose Navarro, the exciting former junior bantamweight contender who has moved up to bantamweight, fights Benjamin Garcia (14-14-3, 1 KO) in a six-round bout.

Tickets, ranging from $19.75 to $250 (on stage), are available by calling TicketMaster at 1-800-745-3000, online at www.ticketmaster.com and at the Staples Center box office.