The Prudential center is hosting the IBC Cruiserweight Championship on July 11! It’s the day after my birthday, and I am very excited. Wait, wait, wait, you’re saying. What the hell is “cruiserweight?” Sounds dubious, slightly sleazy.
Boxing, folks. Mano y mano. World’s second oldest sport.
In the right corner, Jersey City’s Tomanz “Goral” Adamek will be defending his belt from the humorlessly nicknamed Bobby “The Celtic Warrior” Gunn (of Hackensack). The cruiserweight class runs between “light heavyweight” and “heavyweight” – 200 pounds per to be exact. It’s quicker fighting than the heavies, making for some more exciting action.
"Goral" and the (literally?) immortal Don King
According to the Rock’s site, “also slated to appear on the show are a quartet of unbeaten standouts, including Paterson Welterweight Henry Crawford, (21-0); Morganville, N.J.’s promising middleweight prospect Denis “The Momma’s Boy” Douglin, (2-0, 2 KO’s) and undefeated Polish standouts Piotor Wilczewski, (22-0, super middleweight) and 13-0 cruiserweight Mateusz Masternak.” So, there you go – an entire evening devoted to age-old rivalry between Poland and New Jersey.
I went to the last round of fights (sorry) at the Rock. I’ll admit my expectations were, um, notably absent. But the evening was a blast. As soon as I settled into the plush seat (it was my first experience inside the arena, see) with beer in hand and fight in progress, I was hooked. The crowd wasn’t huge, but they were into it – going to a boxing match gives everyone the opportunity to yell advice to fighters, living out all those Burgess Meredith fantasies. Hands down, my favorite advice offered to the boxers was “Hit him!”
Now the fights were good: but personally, the highlight was the house band, The Shots. Sure, just some local bar band, you say, always interjecting like you do. Oh no, friends. It takes a special genius to blend the clash into james brown, to prince, back to the clash, all with lead bagpipe. Add a singer with more bombast than tone – et voila! Musical heights rarely attained by the talented.
If I had a real camera instead of a cell phone, this could be a great picture of The Shots rockin' to the right of the ring. Use your imagination.
Unfortunately, the hometown favorite lost his first fight ever that night. But the boxing series at the Pru gained some fans. See you all there.
July 1st, 2009 at 10:42 am
I have to miss the fight because of a wedding (ironicaly a slavic wedding) but when Tomanz fights its like being a a soccer match in Poland (loud crazy drunks singing the national anthem and tryign to fight security).
July 1st, 2009 at 11:32 am
I agree with the above poster, I went to Adamak’s fight the first time at the Rock and the place was packed and the Polish fans were insane! It was loud in there! I never expected to see that, but all i can say is wow! I will be going again on the 11th! Cant miss it when he fights there!
July 8th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Awesome…and I’m not even Polish!
July 9th, 2009 at 6:51 am
Cruiserweight has been a sanctioned division for about 40 years. If Kyle has never heard of it he shouldn’t be writing about boxing.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Hi Larry Dell! You sound like you know a bit about boxing, which is great. Me, this was my first match. See, I wasn’t writing about “boxing” per se, but, I think the text and context above shows, I was writing about the experience of going to a boxing match, specifically at the Prudential Center. I was also addressing an audience, since this isn’t a boxing or sports-centered site, that may not know anything about it either. Hence the small explanation.
July 11th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Adamek has an apparent HUGE following locally. Makes sense though, with Polish-laden communities in nearby Clifton/Passaic County areas, and especially Wallington. I read an article in the paper the other day that touted him as the best cruiserweight in the world.