William Rosinsky Pleasing The Crowd

Although he only started boxing five years ago, 21-year-old William Rosinsky is already one of the most talked about amateurs in the country.

On April 6, he defeated the much more experienced Mark Anene by decision to win his second consecutive New York City Golden Gloves title at Madison Square Garden.

“I’ve only been competing for about three years, so I’m happy with how far I’ve come,” said Rosinsky, a 178-pounder from Ozone Park, Queens, who fights out of the Starrett City Boxing Club in Brooklyn.

“At first I just wanted to stay in shape, but then I decided to step it up. There is more drive and hard work involved in boxing than any other sport I’ve been involved in. I’ve played football, basketball and baseball, but there is nothing like fighting and winning.”

Rosinsky, whose record is about 40-5, has been doing a lot of winning over the past few years. He has fought overseas at the World Amateur Championships, as well as in national tournaments throughout the United States. But, he says nothing equals the excitement of winning a Golden Gloves title at MSG.

“I’ve been overseas where 8000 to 9000 people were cheering for my opponent,” he said. “In Hungary, Russia, and China, amateur boxing generates a lot of excitement. For me, nothing matches the excitement of Madison Square Garden.”

Rosinsky considers himself more of a boxer than a puncher, which suits him just fine.

“I’m recognized nationally as a boxer,” he explained. “The pressure that I put on my opponents really annoys them.”

Long before he opted to take up boxing, Rosinsky, whose mother is a phone company representative and whose father is a retired truck mechanic, dreamed of being a physical education teacher. To that end, he is in his junior year of studies at Queens College.

He is not even entertaining any thoughts of turning pro until he gets his schooling out of the way. He promised his parents he would do that.

“Promoters tell me that it is easier to be a pro, that it is less demanding than being an amateur,” said Rosinsky, who still lives at home. “If I turn pro, I want to be a champion. I don’t just want to fight to get paid.”

When he is in the ring, more than anything else Rosinsky loves to hear the cheers of the crowd and being the center of attention. While the prospect of money appeals to him, that would never be his sole lure to turn pro.

“I’m going to be a gym teacher someday,” he said. “People always tell me that that is a good plan to fall back on. I tell them that’s not a fall-back plan, that’s what I want to do.”

Right now Rosinsky is not looking beyond his next amateur tournament or his next college class. He is much too disciplined to put the cart before the horse, especially when it comes to the two things most important to him.

The last time he let his discipline lapse momentarily he got blasted with a left hook by Anene. The next thing he knew, he was fighting in the trenches with another former Golden Gloves champion who was as hell-bent on beating him as he was hell-bent on beating him back.

“I got stupid in that fight,” said Rosinsky, who despite his Polish surname says he is of Italian and Irish stock. “I don’t know where that came from. The fight wound up being harder than it probably had to be.”

If the 5’9” Rosinsky had to compare himself with a pro from the past or present, he says former light-heavyweight champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi would be the guy. Both are short and both are recognized for their intelligent aggression.

“It’s good to be aggressive, especially a short light-heavyweight,” he said. “But you have to fight smart. You have to have a plan, you just can’t throw punches without a plan.”

If Rosinsky ever decides to turn pro, more than likely it will be at 168 or even 160 pounds. After watching Joe Calzaghe completely dismantle heavily favored Jeff Lacy, he was awestruck.

“Calzaghe is a pretty talented guy,” he said. “What was most impressive was how many punches he threw and how he was always thinking in there.

“I try to do the same thing when I’m in the ring,” he added. “I like fighters who think, guys like [Floyd] Mayweather, [Zab] Judah, and Roy Jones. I love to please the crowd, but I don’t want to become a bloody mess doing it.”