This afternoon at the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, PA members of the media gathered for the press conference for this Saturday’s fight between Tomasz “Goral” Adamek and Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov on NBCSN Fight Night at 9:00 PM ET. Below are highlighted quotes and photos from the press conference.
Hall of Fame Matchmaker Russell Peltz: “No one in this room would bet the bank on any one of these fights that is why it is such a good card. You don’t always see competitive fights at this level and that is something that we have been trying to do on the NBC Sports Network Fight Night series ever since we began in January of 2012. And this card is as good if not better than any card we have previously done.”
Main Events’ CEO Kathy Duva: “We are thrilled to be able to present a fight like this. Tomasz Adamek has been in everyone’s top five ever since he entered the heavyweight division. He has beaten everyone but one that he has faced as a heavyweight. The guys that are older than Tomasz have already lost to him, for the most part, and there would be no point in fighting them. Every young fighter wants to fight him. Glazkov is a tremendous fighter with an Olympic Bronze medal. He has the best defense of anyone in the heavyweight division. Every single time he just steps up and asks no questions. He is very reminiscent of Tomasz Adamek when I first met him. I am just going to root for the fight of the year because in that case everyone wins. They are both very powerful and determined gentlemen and we are all going to be entertained Saturday night.”
Tomasz Adamek: “I am very happy I come back to Sands Casino. We had a good camp. I’m healthy. I believe we make a good fight with Glazkov for fans and for everybody. My dream is to be heavyweight champion.”
Czar Glazkov: “I am very glad our bout is finally going to happen. I am ready for it 100% and I am ready to show good boxing.”
Czar regarding sparring with Adamek: “It was long ago when we were in the ring (sparring). When we go in the ring this time it will be a war. I’ve had that experience before when I was fighting in the amateurs with my friends and my close team mates. It’s not news to me”
Roger Bloodworth, Tomasz’s trainer: “We expect Glazkov to be in great shape. We expect him to come and fight. This is going to be one of the most exciting fights and exciting cards in a long time. I am going to get here early so I can watch the preliminaries. Come Saturday night I think you are going to see a terrific fight. They both have respect for each other and they are both ready.”
Also present were Isaac “Golden Boy” Chilemba and Denis Grachev who will be competing in the ten round light heavyweight co-feature. Peltz had this to say about the ten round co-feature, “Chilemba-Grachev is a true crossroads fight. This is a fight neither man can afford to lose.”
Denis Grachev: “Night of the fight – I am ready for that. I am going to give a hard fight to Chilemba. He has no chance.”
Isaac Chilemba: “I had a very good camp. I am prepared I am ready. I know he [Grachev] is a good fighter – a strong fighter. He has been in the ring against some top fighters. Yes he lost to Rodriguez, but I am not taking him for granted. It is going to be a tough fight but I am well, mentally and physically prepared. I want to let everyone know you are going to see a great show.”
Peltz also introduced the ten round undercard fight for local bragging rights between Ronald Cruz and Kermit Cintron. He said, “This fight is sold out. You can’t buy a ticket no matter how much money you have. We probably could have sold another 1,000 tickets. We’ve got a little bit of everything on this show, something for everyone. In the history of my 45 years in this industry I don’t know of a bigger fight in the Lehigh Valley or in the history of Southeastern Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia, than the 10 round welterweight fight between Ronald Cruz from Bethlehem and the ex-world champion Kermit Cintron of Reading.”
Ronald Cruz: “It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to be here, an opportunity I am looking forward to. I don’t like to talk too much I let my hands do the talking in the ring. My hands are going to do alot of talkin’ on Saturday night!”
Kermit Cintron was not present for the press conference.
