Articles

Adamek Says He Isn't Understimating McBride

Published

10 years ago

February 25, 2011

The Sweet Science

Quotes From Adamek – McBride

2/24 Press Conference

2/24/11 – BRICK CITY BAR & GRILL, NEWARK, NJ

Kathy Duva. Main Events, CEO: “April 9^th is an important fight for both fighters: in Kevin McBride's case this is a great opportunity for him; in Tomasz's case he has a great opportunity ahead of him in Poland where he has an offer to fight one of the Klitschko brothers in September. But Tomasz does not like to be idle.”

“That brings us to Kevin McBride: he is a big man: he is 6″6″; he is very wide; and very tall; and that is the kind of opponent Tomasz needs to face in order to prepare for the bigger challenge if he is successful. There are other people who have faced Kevin and not been so successful; most notably, Mike Tyson. As we know, Kevin is the man who effectively ended Mike Tyson's career. So Tomasz, Main Events and everybody with him, knows what a big challenge this is, not to be taken lightly.”

Doug Jacobs, Integrated Sports, PPV :”It's a bargain at $29.95 for pay-per-view. I know there's another Golden Boy/HBO fight that night that's $45 dollars, but I have no doubt that our show is going to be so much more exciting and a better value for you in today's economic times. In every show we've done here at Prudential Center,with Tomasz Adamek, the atmosphere has been fantastic! The atmosphere comes through well on TV, and the under card matches have come through fantastic. It's always an exciting event.”

Jerry Quinn, Kevin McBride Mgr: “We know we are the underdogs for this fight, but we were the underdogs for the Mike Tyson fight also, people underestimated us. We're gonna come down here to win. Kevin is training very hard, day and night, and we are definitely looking forward to it. I know Tomasz is a great fighter. We give him a lot of respect, but we're coming here to win.”

Kevin Mc Bride: “I'm from Ireland, I'm Irish, and I'm proud to be a fighter. I'm coming here to fight. This is a big fight for me. An Irish painter, Sean Scully, said to me a couple years ago, 'Follow your dream”, and that's what I'm going to do, follow my dream.”

“This is a great opportunity, for me to show the world I'm a bigger man. You know, if I get into the later rounds with Tomasz Adamek, when I hit him on the chin he's going to think the whole of Poland hit him! Actually, when I fought Mike Tyson and hit him on the chin I thought, 'when I hit him he's gonna think the whole of Ireland hit him', so I had to think of another statement… You know, Pope John Paul, I hope you don't mind, but I'm gonna take the title from Tomasz Adamek, follow my dream, and become world heavyweight champion, first born Irish. It's gonna be a great night and I'm looking forward to it!”

Ziggy Rozalski, Adamek Advisor – “I want to thank Kevin, because I think it's going to be a great fight. When we fought Kevin with Golota he closed both of Golota's eyes. If I didn't tell them in Polish in the corner, 'how many fingers does the referee have?' he would have probably won, so I say, thank you, but this is going to be a great fight!”

Roger Bloodworth, Adamek Trainer (celebrating his birthday): “I couldn't quite believe I was 31 today… We are taking this fight very serious, because Kevin can punch. Kevin's Irish and he comes to fight. Tomasz is the type of fighter that can't stay idle. He has to stay busy, so we asked for somebody big and they got us somebody big! We have all the respect in the world for Kevin and his corner, and we thank him for taking this fight.”

Tomasz Adamek: “This is my next step before Klitschko. My wife says I have ADHD, I cannot sit still at home with nothing doing, this is my life.”

“I love fighting at Prudential Center. Everyone lives very close. It feels like my home.” When referring to the amount of snow NJ has received this winter, Adamek said, “I can use only shovel, because when my neighbor sees snow blower he smiles, so I only shovel, it's good training!”

“Somebody asked me why I am fighting before I have a guaranteed title fight, and I said, 'I want to be active, this is my job. I can't stay home 8 -9 months. So we made a fight – thank you Kevin for taking this fight.' Tomasz added, “He's a big man, we respect him. I'm preparing with Roger, it's our second week in the Poconos. We prepare very hard and I am very healthy. I want to be the champion. I am serious, this is my life, this is my way, this is my destiny.”

Presented by Main Events & Ziggy Promotions. Fight venue – Newark's Prudential Center

Comment on this article

Post Views: 353

The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

5 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

Post Views: 1,096

Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

5 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

Post Views: 552

Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

5 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

Post Views: 2,243