Ellenville’s very own "Love Jones" is due to defend his East Coast Professional Wrestling (ECPW) Championship at 7 p.m. on January 28 at the Mount Hope Youth Center near Otisville.

Love Jones will be facing Gabe Baez in this matchup, which promises to be fierce and highly entertaining. A portion of the proceeds will go toward the Minisink Youth Football program.

In Ellenville, Love Jones is better known as Mike Rodriguez, a former Blue Devil fullback in the great 2009 team which won Sections.

Currently a professional wrestler, he says, “I’ve been wrestling for about two years now. It’s really competitive, I dislocated my shoulder in a match, there are concussions, too, now and then. But, we do whatever we can to provide entertainment to the fans.”

He sees the fans as folks seeking some fun on a Friday night. “People have a hard work week and then they come out and we just want to entertain them on that night, send them home happy.”

Rodriguez, who is not that tall, and weighs just 165 pounds, has a challenge in this game, wrestling guys who are often a lot bigger than he is.

“There are no weight classes in this, so I have wrestled against a 317-pound opponent, for instance.”

Does this worry him?

“Nope. Whenever I go up against bigger opponents like that, I attack them lower down. I get them in an ankle lock. The saying goes, ‘If you can’t pin the big guy, you gotta make him tap out.’”

In tag team bouts, Love Jones pairs up with Captain Pain, under the moniker “Love is Pain.”

Rodriguez credits Manny Salvato and his boxing gym with his success. “I always thank Manny. He started training me when I was 12 years old and I was starting in boxing. It was really hard work, but he turned me into a great athlete.”

Rodriguez still spends time on the block of Market Street where boxers work out, but now he attends Adan Aldarondo’s gym next door.

Love Jones’ action can be seen on YouTube, just check it out under “ECPW Love Jones.”

Rodriguez also puts out respect to his mother Stephenie Rodriguez and his grandmother Theresa Nettles, long-standing Ellenville ladies.

He concluded with a shout out to, “every little kid out there. If you have a dream, I hope I’m an example to you of what you can do. For you just work hard and you can achieve what you want, just never give up on what you love.”