In a battle of Polish natives who both once called Jersey City home, reigning IBF cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek knocked out Andrew Golota in the fifth round of their “Battle of Poland” fight in their homeland of Poland last Saturday night.
Because Adamek took the fight against Golota instead of defending his world title, the IBF has decided to strip him of his title, although Ring Magazine still considers Adamek as the No. 1 cruiserweight in the world.
Adamek was overjoyed after the fight.
“I will never forget this moment, fighting in front of almost 17 thousand Polish fans against a Polish legend that went through many great battles,” Adamek said at the post-fight press conference. “It was a meaningful night for me. By beating Andrew Golota, I made a statement about my power. I wanted to show how good I can be as a heavyweight. I hope I proved tonight to everybody, that I can be 215 pounds and be effective as a heavyweight.”
While Adamek may have had to relinquish his IBF belt, the real money is in the heavyweight division, so maybe this win over Golota will enable Adamek the chance to get bigger paydays against heavyweights in the future. We have to see…
Chalk this one up for a little bit of foresight: Last week, the Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week was Savon Huggins of St. Peter’s Prep, who went for 157 total yards and three touchdowns in a win over North Bergen.
Well, last week against the state’s No. 2-ranked team, St. Joseph of Montvale, Huggins went a few steps even better. Huggins rushed for a single-game school record 312 yards on 32 carries and three touchdowns in a 42-19 victory for the Marauders.
It was just a case of anticipating bigger and better things from Huggins, right?
It was clearly a dominating performance by Huggins, who keeps looking more and more like the best Prep running back ever. He certainly has the perfect balance of power and speed…
Here’s the Hudson Reporter High School Football Top Five: 1. St. Peter’s Prep (5-1). 2. Lincoln (7-0). 3. Secaucus (6-0). 4. North Bergen (4-3). 5. St. Anthony (4-2)…
Here’s something to watch in the coming weeks. The St. Peter’s College men’s basketball team will face Monmouth in their home opener at Yanitelli Center on Tuesday, Nov. 17, with game time set for 6 a.m.
Say what? Was that a misprint?
Nope, the Peacocks and the Hawks will tip off that contest at the wild time of 6 a.m., part of ESPN’s 24 Hours of College Basketball event. It’s clearly the first college basketball game ever played in the continental United States to have such an early bird tipoff. We’ll have more on that game upcoming, but buy your coffee and donuts and get ready for early morning hoops…
Here’s the latest on the NJSIAA state playoffs, with some teams playing their last qualifying game this weekend.
Four local teams have already clinched playoff berths in their respective divisions, namely St. Peter’s Prep in Non-Public Group 4, St. Anthony in Non-Public Group 1, Secaucus in North Jersey Section 2, Group I and Lincoln in North Jersey Section 2, Group II.
Those four teams are now jockeying for playoff positions and possible home games. In fact, Lincoln has already clinched a top-four seed, so the Lions will play their first home state playoff game since 1987. Secaucus still has a chance to get the top seed in their bracket, which would be huge in the Patriots’ quest to get to Giants Stadium for the first time ever.
North Bergen is currently ninth in North Jersey Section 1, Group IV and will secure a return to the state playoffs with a win over West Milford at home this weekend. The Bruins still might get a berth even if they lose, but they would need teams like Bloomfield and West Orange to lose as well. It’s easier to say that if the Bruins win, they’re in.
We wrote about Ferris’ slim chances in Scoreboard. By virtue of losing 38-28 to Lincoln last Saturday, a game where they had a 28-6 lead at the half, Hoboken has been eliminated from Group I playoff contention. It will be strange to have a state playoff without the Red Wings.
So we’re down to five local teams with playoff chances, with four already having sealed the deal…
There was a strange scenario in boys’ high school soccer over the last couple of weeks. Dickinson managed to upend perennial state power Kearny twice in the regular season, the last coming in a 5-2 thrashing of the Kardinals last Monday. Two days later, in the Hudson County Tournament semifinals on Wednesday, Kearny returns the favor and wins 1-0 to head to the county finale. It’s almost unfair to the Rams and super standout Maxi Garcia…
There are two worthwhile basketball camps and clinics on tap locally.
First, the Dan Finn Classic in conjunction with the City of Jersey City and the Jersey City Recreation Department, will hold a series of free basketball clinics for both boys and girls at the Jersey City Armory Nov. 5 through Nov. 7 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Some of the best high school coaches in New Jersey will be the instructors in the clinic.
For more information and to register for the clinic, call (201) 997-5791 or (201) 547-5003….
Also, the coaching staff at Rutgers-Newark will be holding the annual Scarlet Raiders Basketball Clinic for boys and girls ages 7-17 on Nov. 5 and Nov. 7 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The clinic will be held at the Golden Dome on campus, under the guidance of R-N men’s basketball coach Joe Loughran and women’s coach Kevin Morris.
For more information, call Loughran at (973) 353-1483 or via e-mail at loughran@newark. rutgers.edu…
Here’s a “Faa” update: The local baseball legend and sports columnist is recovering remarkably and was back to being his old cantankerous self after a recent visit. He’s happy to receive all the get well wishes from his friends and readers and hopes to be back up and causing havoc shortly. And we guess that’s good news. Way to go, Faa! … – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.