A compilation of articles by BRC's Inner Circle
writers
-Photo Credit: D M Warr/DKP-
QUOTES
NICOLAI VALUEV:
“The victory wasn’t easy tonight and Monte Barrett really
tried hard. I haven’t fought in the U.S. for a long time so this was a whole
new thing for me. To be honest, I was a little nervous. I need to settle
down more.
“I knew after the fourth or fifth round I was going to win. I’m never fully
satisfied with my performance. My coach said I made a lot of mistakes. I
hope to perform even better next time I fight.
“I’ll have to read what the writers think and what the American people have
to say. I will not make any forecasts about future opponents.
“I would like to thank Monte and his team for agreeing to the fight. Monte
showed me what a great American fighter is all about.
“The last few weeks in America have been great. I began to fall in love with
the country and its people.”
PAUL BRIGGS:
“Look at my face and look at Adamek’s face.
I knocked him down. He had a point deduction for low blows.
“I blocked many of his punches but the Polish fans cheered regardless. My
only guess would be that the judges were swayed by the Polish fans.
"I’ve never been shy about a challenge. I want to thank HBO for giving an
Australian a chance.
"I was really in shape for this fight and I gave it my all. The judges
didn’t see it my way but that’s the way it goes.”
TOMASZ ADAMEK:
“I’m very happy. It was a long time not
being in the ring. It was a long layover that was one year. That’s why I
didn’t look so good tonight.
“I thought I hurt him a couple of times. One of the blows was low, the other
was borderline.
“I had control of the fight the whole time. I was not hurt at all. My nose
was okay. I can’t wait to fight again.
“I want to thank all of my Polish and American fans.”
ALI BASHIR:
(Monty
Barrett's trainer) "I thought Monte was
in the fight that is why I let it go as far as it could go," Bashir said
afterwards. "I saw that he was tiring and he was hurt and there was no
reason to go on. It was just a risky thing at that point, so I stopped the
fight."
INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE ROPES IN ROSEMONT...
by Chris Robinson
This past Saturday night offered up fight fans a pair
of meaningful bouts on HBO as Tomasz Adamek retained his WBC Light
Heavyweight belt in a rematch against Paul Briggs while Nicolai Valuev
secured his WBA Heavyweight piece with an 11th round stoppage over gutsy
Monte Barrett at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. The Adamek-Briggs
fight was a rousing affair while the Valuev-Barrett pairing failed to live up
to the excitement or intrigue that many expected. Overall it was a mixed bag
for HBO boxing but there was much more going on underneath the surface this
weekend in Rosemont. All one had to do was place themselves inside of the
Hilton O’Hare hotel a day before the fights to get a sense of the buzz and
emotions surrounding the weekend’s action.
Saturday night at the Allstate Arena by Chicago, Monte Barrett
(31-5, 17 KO’s) showed big heart in challenging gigantic, WBA Heavyweight
Champion, Nicolai Valuev (45-0, 33 KO’s). Maybe if Barrett had a better sling
shot, he might’ve slain the mighty Goliath that is Valuev. Instead, Valuev won
this sloppily fought contest by TKO in the 11th round after Barrett was floored
a few times and ran out of gas.
HBO-SHOWTIME SATURDAY SPECIALS - "OH WHAT A NIGHT"...by George Elsasser
Not much to say here other than size won out over a burned out former contender
- Valuev is likely shareholder numero four of comrades Klitschko (IBF),
Liakhovich (WBO), Maskaev (WBC) - the super sized Valuev package is too much a
target to get by Wlad and Sergei and slight underdog if next dance partner is
Oleg.
VALUEV ROCKS THE SCALE AT 328
POUNDS, BARRETT AT A WEIGHT DISADVANTAGE OF OVER 100 POUNDS
Promoter Don King staged a
noon-time, open-to-the-public weigh in staged in front of the tallest
building in the Western Hemisphere, the Sears Tower in Chicago's downtown
Loop, for his "Big Red October" event Saturday at Allstate Arena in Rosemont,
Ill., and live on HBO at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT.
World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Nikolai "Giant Russian" Valuev
"tipped the Toledos" at a scale-busting 328 pounds while his challenger Monte
"Two Gunz" Barrett registered over 100 pounds less at 222 1/2 pounds.
NATE CAMPBELL: SACRIFICING FOR OCTOBER 7 AND
BEYOND...by Chris Robinson
Anyone familiar with Nate ‘The Galaxxy Warrior’ Campbell should know that his
career has been a rollercoaster worth watching. Along the way Campbell has
tasted some bitter losses and risen with some pulsating victories. The moments
have been memorable and Campbell still finds himself in the big picture,
fighting next for an IBF Lightweight title eliminator this Saturday night,
October 7th,
against Poland’s Matt ‘Boom Boom’ Zegan at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont,
Illinois.
UPDATE: Nate Campbell won a unanimous
decision in his IBF Lightweight championship
elimination bout against Matt Zegan.
BARRETT REMAINS BOUND AND DETERMINED TO BECOME HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF
THE WORLD
When describing Monte Barrett, one can use words like
charismatic, poised, self-assured, humble, confident
and gentlemanly. To meet Monte Barrett is to
like him. He’s that kind of guy. But once he
enters the ring, he transforms into a highly
motivated, intensely determined, and totally focused
fighting machine.
As a young man, Barrett
became an ardent admirer of Muhammad Ali. Not
just as a fighter but as a personality and role model.
This admiration for Ali turned Barrett into a fan of
the sport, a student of boxing and, ultimately, a
participant in the sweet science.
If being the
tallest and heaviest heavyweight champion in history
at 7 feet and 325 pounds, respectively, were not
enough to bring attention to undefeated Nikolai
Valuev, one need only imagine the looks of disbelief
from boxing experts and novices alike when the Russian
giant enters the ring not by the customary process of
stepping through the ropes; he steps over them.
"This fight is something that I
have been looking forward to for a very long time and
the stage is set for a classic fight," said the 29
year-old Briggs entering the match. "I am also stoked
that we are fighting in Chicago because there are one
million Poles in the city and I get to smash Adamek in
front of 20,000 of them."
TOMASZ ADAMEK: 'POPE
JOHN PAUL III WAS MY PERSONAL HERO.... '
Adamek began to box at age 12 when,
without telling his mom about it, a friend took him to
a boxing gym. The young Tomasz, very talented and
fast, was soon in the ring with grown men. Tomasz had
the same trainer in Poland, Andrzei Gimitruk, who
coached heavyweight Andrew Golota to a bronze medal in
the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
Americans will
get their chance to see undefeated 7-foot, 325-pound
Nikolai “Giant Russian” Valuev when he makes the
second defense of his World Boxing Association title
against Monte “Two Gunz” Barrett at Allstate Arena in
Rosemont, Ill., on Oct. 7.
A stellar world championship co-feature has been added with undefeated World
Boxing Council champion Tomasz Adamek, from Poland, facing Australian Paul
“Hurricane” Briggs in a rematch.
A scheduled 12-round
International Boxing Federation lightweight
elimination bout will also be included with No.
5-ranked contender Matt “Boom Boom” Zegan, from
Wroclaw, Poland, taking on No. 9-ranked Nate Campbell,
from Jacksonville, Fla., for the No. 1 position.
Nikolai Valuev (WBA) - age 32, undefeated after
44 kept appointments with 32 by KO. That’s the
good news - haven’t as yet seen the "Beast from
the East" in action - a giant at 7’ and could
well enter his first defense at 300+ pounds.
Simply put, there’s big, and there’s too big. Next up
for Nicolai is Monte "Two-Guns" Barrett - wise decision as Monte’s no longer
quick on the draw. I mean, five trips to the canvas in Wlad Klitschko mismatch
is one thing, losing to a Joe Mesi is whole different story.
WHO WILL SAVE THE HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION?...
by Jon
Sutton
Many an argument has been put forward for the decline in
heavyweight icons. Some say that we are still suffering the hangover of
the best heavyweight era of all time, where Muhammad Ali ruled over the
likes of Patterson and Liston then Foreman, Frazier and Norton.
'GIANT RUSSIAN' NIKOLAI VALUEV AND POLISH
STARS AT ALLSTATE ARENA OCTOBER 7TH
Americans
will get their chance to see undefeated 7-foot,
325-pound Nikolai “Giant Russian” Valuev, who has
vowed to “conquer America” when he makes the second
defense of his World Boxing Association title against
Monte “Two Gunz” Barrett at Allstate Arena in
Rosemont, Ill., on Oct. 7.
Tickets priced at $250, $200,
$100, $75, $50 and $35, with a limited number of
golden circle seats available at $500, are now on sale
at the Allstate Arena box office
(847-635-6601), online at Ticketmaster.com or through
charge by phone by calling (312) 559-1212.
9-02-2006
Brought to you by Saratogamist
copyright 2001-2006
