Local boxing champion Tomasz Adamek is apparently ready to take on the next challenge of his life. The Jersey City resident, who was the IBF world cruiserweight champion, has decided to surrender his belt to make the move up to heavyweight.
Adamek, a native of Poland, will headline a card on Saturday, Feb. 6 at the Prudential Center in Newark, when he takes on Jason Estrada in his first heavyweight fight in the United States.
Adamek already defeated fellow Polish heavyweight Andrew Golota in a fight in their native land a few months ago.
Adamek held a media workout at the World Fitness Gym in Jersey City last week and proclaimed that he’s ready to make the next step up the weight level chain.
“This weight is natural for me,” Adamek said “I feel very comfortable. I am eating more. I’m not hungry anymore. For the fight, maybe I will weigh what I weigh today, 222 lbs. This is my natural weight. This time, I am happier when I go into training.”
Added Adamek, “Cruiserweight was more difficult for me. I always had a problem getting to the weight, especially when I was 175. I feel very good at this weight. I feel faster. But I feel stronger because my weight is natural.”
Jersey City native Patrick “Paddy Boy” Farrell will also fight as part of the card at “The Rock” in Newark next Saturday night…
Speaking of local boxing champions, Hudson County crowned another world champ last weekend, when North Bergen resident Carlos Tamara won the IBF world junior flyweight (108 pounds) title in the Philippines in a major upset over former U.S. Olympic champion Brian Viloria.
Tamara, a native of Colombia, has been living in North Bergen since June of 2008. He becomes the township’s first world boxing champion since James J. Braddock, a.k.a. “The Cinderella Man,” won the heavyweight title of the world in 1935.
To read more about Tamara, click on the Hudson Reporter’s website at www.hudsonreporter.com and read the article in the North Bergen news section. It’s Tamara’s first in-depth interview since he captured the world title…
A few weeks ago, it was mentioned in Tidbits that there were two major Hudson County basketball players who were able to play for their respective teams while having criminal charges pending against them.
Well, further investigation has found out that there is more than just two active criminals playing local high school basketball – and it’s both genders.
There’s one player who has been convicted of criminal assault who had been playing while wearing a monitoring ankle bracelet. That player has just been recently suspended from that team for allegedly beating up another player.
There’s another individual who was arrested for allegedly bringing a handgun into the classroom, pointing the gun at someone and making a “pow, pow, pow” noise. But that player has not been suspended at all and is currently still playing as one team’s leading scorer.
And yet there’s another who was arrested recently and charged with his involvement in a drug possession case, with intent to distribute and possession within 1,000 feet of a school, and that player is still playing.
It totally boggles the mind how these respective coaches and administrators can simply turn a blind eye on these exceptional role models, simply because they can put a round ball through a round metal rim.
Congrats to the North Bergen wrestling team, which has been putting together some impressive wins of late, including huge victories over perennial state powers Hackensack and Jefferson last week. We’ll have more on the Bruin grapplers next week…
Hoboken’s Joel Rivera has capped a brilliant football career at William Paterson with his appearance in two different NCAA Division III All-Star contests. Rivera, who re-wrote the WPU record books as a wide receiver, has a good chance to be invited to an NFL camp as a free agent come this summer…
Hudson Reporter Boys’ H.S. Basketball Top Five: 1. St. Anthony (14-2). 2. St. Peter’s Prep (11-2). 3. North Bergen (10-2). 4. Marist (11-2). 5. High Tech (12-4).
Hudson Reporter Girls’ H.S. Basketball Top Five: 1. Bayonne (12-2). 2. Secaucus (11-2). 3. Marist (10-4). 4. St. Anthony (12-1). 5. Holy Family Academy (10-2).
Sad news about Rob DelPriore, who was a fine baseball player at both Secaucus High School and later Brookdale Community College, eventually getting drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 15th round in 1994.
DelPriore died suddenly last week at the tender age of 35. DelPriore was a fine pitcher for many years, even having a brief stint as a professional with the New Jersey Jackals about a decade ago.
The younger DelPriore, whose father, the late Robert, was the long time deputy police chief in Weehawken, was very involved with youth baseball and Little League in his native Secaucus. Incredibly, his death comes only three months after his father died after a long illness.
From a personal standpoint, I knew both Bobby DelPriore Sr. and his son very well and it’s almost too tragic for words that they’re both gone in a matter of months. Heartfelt condolences and prayers go out to the DelPriore family, who has had to endure such incredible tragedy in such a short period of time. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.