Tomorrow night, Newark New Jersey’s Prudential Center will once again transform into “Little Poland” as thousands of Polish fight fans will flock to 165 Mulberry Street to watch Tomasz Adamek square off against New York’s Vinny Maddalone.
But before the legions of Polish fans witness Adamek do battle with Maddalone, they’ll have the opportunity to cheer on another Polish-born, New Jersey-based boxer.
Welterweight prospect Patrick Majewski will look to add another win to his already perfect record when he faces off against Lawrence, Massachusetts’ Eddie “Thunder” Caminero in a bout scheduled for eight rounds.
Majewski (14-0, 9 KO) was born in Radom, Poland, but now resides in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where six of his fourteen professional bouts have taken place.
In his last bout in October, the Polish-transplant defeated New Mexico’s Joseph Gomez (17-3-1, 8 KO) by seventh round stoppage in Kissimmee, Florida.
Majewski first hurt Gomez with a devastating left hook in the fourth round. Three rounds later, Majewski hurt his counterpart again and didn’t let him off the hook. Referee Frank Gentile stepped in and saved Gomez from absorbing further punishment, stopping the bout at the 1:50 mark of round seven.
But even after an impressive performance against tough opposition, Majewski and his team knew there was plenty of room for improvement.
“I made many mistakes my last fight,” Majewski said. “So my trainers — we tried to work on the leg movement, more head movement, and of course, more speed.”
Majewski will have a chance to showcase his sharpened skills against Caminero in front of an expected crowd of over ten thousand fans.
Caminero (7-3, 7 KO), who practices his trade under the watchful eye of “Irish” Micky Ward, has proven he is a rugged competitor who can out-will and out-punch his opponents.
In his last two bouts, Caminero scored upset victories over two seperate opponents, who prior to the bouts, sported a combined record of 14-1.
Caminero’s most recent fight took place in August in Brooklyn, New York against crowd favorite, and previously unbeaten fighter, Joe Smith, Jr.
The Massachussets native served as nothing more than a moving heavy bag for Smith in the opening round, as Caminero found himself with his back against the ropes, standing on unsteady legs.
Caminero was able to gather himself and survive the round, however, and by the third round, he began a relentless campaign against Smith’s body, which visibly took its toll on the taller Smith.
With blood dribbling out his mouth and the fourth round about to come to a close, Smith signaled to his corner he could no longer continue. Earlier in the round, Smith suffered a broken jaw courtesy of the heavy-handed Caminero, who notched his second straight victory.
Majewski is well aware of Caminero’s stubbornness inside the ropes, but is confident that his preparation leading up to this fight will result in a victory tomorrow night.
“I know that he’s tough, but I’m tough too,” said Majewski. “I’ve been training hard for this fight and I’m going to bring my work into the ring.”
Tomorrow night will mark the third time Majewski will fight at the Prudential Center and the second time he will fight on the undercard of an Adamek-headlined event. He knows there will be thousands of fans decked out in Poland’s colors of red and white who will be cheering his name. He also knows he cannot let the crowd become a distraction against a heavy-handed opponent like Caminero.
“It is a big feeling [to fight in front of the Polish fans], I’m really excited to fight over there,” Majewski said. “But during the fight you really have to focus on your opponent — don’t really worry about the crowd or the fans.”
Majewski, who turns 31 later this month, knows that one loss may result in a significant setback to his career and doesn’t plan on letting Caminero play spoiler.
With regards to his approach towards his fight tomorrow night, Majewski said, “Focus on your opponent then worry about the fans. Then after the fight we can celebrate together.”
Thoughts on select fights from last week
Javier Fortuna vs. Victor Valenzuela
Last Wednesday at BB King’s in New York City, two unbeaten prospects crossed paths in a bout that was scheduled for eight rounds.
Passaic, New Jersey’s Victor “Viper” Valenzuela squared off against the Dominican Republic’s Javier Fortuna, who was making his American debut.
Before the fight, Valenzuela sported an 8-0 record, with only one of those wins coming by knockout, while Fortuna entered the bout 12-0 with 9 knockouts.
For that reason, I was confused as to why Valenzuela was willing to fight fire with fire from the opening bell. Fortuna and Valenzuela forewent any use of a jab and began trading wild power punches — an exchange that would clearly favor the heavier-handed Fortuna.
Ultimately, a minute into the first round, Fortuna KO’d Valenzuela in a Sergio Martinez-esque fashion. Valenzuela scarily collapsed and just like that Valenzuela’s “O” had to go. His record and confidence both took a hit as he fell to 8-1, 1 KO, while Fortuna shined in his American debut, improving to 13-0, 10 KOs.
Crazy part about the KO is the fact that Martinez’s trainer, Gabriel Sarmiento, is also Fortuna’s trainer. Further, like Martinez, he was discovered and brought to the United States by advisor Sampson Lewkowicz and is also signed to DiBella Entertainment.
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Alex Perez vs. Doel Carrasquillo
That same night, I was also impressed by Newark, New Jersey’s Alex Perez, who
successfully navigated past tough journeyman Doel Carrasquillo in an eight round welterweight bout.
The fight marked the unbeaten Perez’s first bout since inking a deal with DiBella Entertainment.
Unlike Fortuna, Perez (13-0, 7 KO) didn’t blow his opponent out of the water. Rather, Perez was forced to outbox a veteran brawler for eight rounds — and did so with relative ease.
“I was pleased with everything that he did,” said Perez’s trainer and manager, Jose Rosario. “He finally showed me the things I wanted to see — and that was being smart and outboxing guys like the guy we fought today.”
Working behind a stiff right jab, Perez successfully kept the always-moving-forward Carasquillo at range, setting him up for combinations and devastating left hands.
By the second round, Carrasquillo’s face was already puffy, turning red in the process. Each time Perez hurt his Carrasquillo, the determined journeyman would talk taunt Perez and shrug it off as if he was unharmed (which was a lie, of course).
Perez’s only slip-up in this bout came in the fifth round when he tripped over Carrasquillo’s feet and got caught with a right hand that ultimately put him on the canvass.
“I slipped over his leg and they ruled it a knockdown,” said Perez. “It is what it is.”
Following a brief and unsuccessful appeal to referee Arthur Mercante Jr., Perez got right back up and immediately picked up where he left off, snapping his jab and throwing meaningful combinations.
Credit Carrasquillo (14-17-1, 12 KO) for his persistence as he brought non-stop pressure for twenty-four minutes. He was stubborn in his aggressiveness, constantly walking forward, getting peppered by stiff jabs and straight lefts along the way.
“I want to stiffen my jab up even more,” Perez said. “It will be key when I fight more guys like him who keep coming and keep coming.”
Carrasquillo’s pressure would make most boxer’s uncomfortable, but Perez seemed to embrace this type of fight early on — a credit to his trainer and his preparation.
“I saw Carrasquillo fight a couple times and I knew he was tough and was better than his record shows,” Rosario said. “He always fought tough fights and we knew he was dangerous so we prepared mentally and physically for him.”
Except for the flash knockdown, Perez controlled this fight from start to finish, a tribute to the 28 year-old’s maturity and versatility. Now that Perez has found a home under the DiBella Entertainment banner, there should be more regularity in his fight schedule, which is a plus for tri-state area fight fans.
