Tomasz Adamek will finally get his long-awaited chance to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world.
It was announced last week that Adamek, the 34-year-old former Jersey City resident who still trains regularly in Jersey City, has agreed to a deal where he will face one of the two Klitschko brothers in Poland in September for one of the two titles owned by the Ukranian brothers.
Vitali Klitschko is currently the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion. Brother Wladimir holds the International Boxing Federation title. It has not been determined which brother Adamek will face.
Both brothers plan to defend their titles in the coming months. If both lose those fights, then the deal with Adamek would be history.
Adamek also plans to fight locally sometime in April, but there was no contingency plan in case Adamek fails to win that tuneup bout.
The Adamek-Klitschko bout will take place at a newly built soccer arena in Poland, where the Euro 2012 Cup tourney will take place. Vitali Klitschko is a member of the organizing committee for the Ukraine for that tourney, thus the reason why it will be held at the new soccer stadium.
Adamek was obviously pleased with the deal, because it’s one step closer to fulfilling his dream.
“I would like to thank the Klitschkos for being very generous with their offer,” Adamek said in a statement released by Main Events, Adamek’s chief promoter. “I’m looking forward to the fight. It doesn’t matter which Klitschko I fight. Right now, they are both the biggest stars in the boxing world and I want to fight the biggest stars. I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
Jersey City-based promoter Ziggy Rozalski was also happy that the deal has come to fruition.
“I’m actually shocked that the Klitschkos agreed to have the fight in Poland,” Rozalski said.
Both Adamek and Rozalski are natives of Poland.
“But it’s in the middle of Europe and although we will have an advantage with the Polish boxing fans, there are a lot of Ukrainian people living in Poland,” Rozalski said. “A lot of Klitschko fans that live in Germany will come to see the fight. It’s a great deal for everyone.”…
Hudson County lost a true coaching legend last weekend, when Weehawken’s Howard Wolf passed away. Wolf, known affectionately as “the Big Laddie,” because he called boys “laddies,” and girls “lassies” during his nearly 50 years of service to Weehawken, coached every sport imaginable at Weehawken High in a career that saw him go from a coach to the high school athletic director to finally the principal at Woodrow Wilson School, a position he held until his retirement in 1987.
Wolf was a fine athlete himself at Weehawken High School, playing soccer and basketball, but it was at New York University that he found his real niche as a competitive wrestler. He competed in wrestling at NYU for four years and was the team’s captain for two. He went undefeated in wrestling in his senior year of 1951 and won several local and national competitions.
When Wolf graduated from NYU, he took a teaching job in Weehawken and coached soccer, football, basketball, baseball, gymnastics, track and field and wrestling at the school. It’s the most diverse coaching career in Hudson County history.
Wolf was the father of wrestling in Weehawken, having instituted the sport in the township. He coached wrestling at the school from its inception in 1953 through 1978.
In 2007, the Hudson County Sports Hall of Fame honored Wolf with his induction into the organization.
“People called me ‘the Big Laddie,’” Wolf said at his induction dinner. “That’s because I always felt the kids of Weehawken were my family. Through the years, I was fortunate to see them grow into fine young men and women. I was able to share in their accomplishments and successes and that was very rewarding.”
From a personal standpoint, “The Big Laddie” was someone that I always looked forward to seeing at different Weehawken events. He always wanted to show me another wrestling move or two. When my book was published in 2005, “Laddie” was the first person to purchase a copy at the Weehawken book signing and proudly waited for me to sign his personal copy. He was a wonderful man and will be sorely missed. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wonderful wife Madeline at this tough time…
Speaking of the Hudson County Sports Hall of Fame, it was learned this week that there will not be an induction dinner this year, due to the illness of Hudson County Parks Director Tom McCann. It was also believed that the dinner was a victim of county cutbacks as well, which is a shame. It’s not known whether the dinner will return in some capacity next year…
Hudson Catholic has decided to honor John Furch, the baseball standout who went on to play at Duke University, by retiring his jersey number. Furch was one of the most feared sluggers to ever come out of Hudson County and he’s currently a Jersey City police officer. It’s a very nice gesture…
Hudson Reporter Boys’ H.S. Basketball Top Five: 1. St. Anthony (12-0). 2. Hudson Catholic (13-3). 3. St. Peter’s Prep (9-3). 4. Memorial (9-3). 5. Marist (9-3).
Hudson Reporter Girls’ H.S. Basketball Top Five: 1. Bayonne (13-1). 2. North Bergen (12-2). 3. Secaucus (11-2). 4. Lincoln (8-4). 5. Union City (7-4)….
Congrats to Weehawken boys’ basketball coach Jake McNish for winning the 250th game of his coaching career last week, when the Indians defeated Secaucus…
Speaking of milestones, legendary St. Anthony Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley is now just four wins away from the incredible 1,000-win plateau. The way the undefeated Friars are playing, Hurley should reach the milestone sometime next week…
The Union City girls’ basketball team has been on fire of late, winning five straight games, thanks to the play of Kristina Rivera, Amanda Castillas, and Angela Estrada, all of whom are averaging double figures…
St. Peter’s Prep standout running back Savon Huggins has narrowed down his choices to three schools, Rutgers, Notre Dame and North Carolina, and will make his decision sometime this week. Prediction? We think he’ll choose Notre Dame…–Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.