NBC Sports Network

“Fight Night”

June 16, 2012

NBC Sports Network Fight Night new logo

Adamek – Chambers Press Conference
Loft 47, Newark, NJ – A press conference was held today for the upcoming NBC Sports Network Fight Night card, June 16 at Prudential Center, Newark NJ. The card features a 10 round bout between Tomasz Adamek and Eddie Chambers. Co-featured on the card will be Bryant Jennings vs. Steve Collins.

Here’s what eveyone had to say:

Gary Quinn, Sr. Director, Program Planning and Acquisitions: “I come bearing very good news from the television side of this series. We could not be more pleased about the way we have started off this series, with the January and the March shows. There was some apprehension to be brutally honest about getting back into the boxing business, but all those fears are gone and the wonderful thing is that we can build more and more continuity. The ratings for the January and the March shows really exceeded our expectations. The nice thing about the March show is that everyone was saying . ‘Well nobody young watches boxing anymore.’ Well our strongest demo for that fight was men 18 to 34, so that’s a very key stat. We think Main Events and Peltz boxing built a very good buzz leading up to the fight, and we certainly appreciate all the support of the boxing community. We are also very happy to announce that we have added another date for our “Fight Night” series on September 21st “.

Kathy Duva, CEO Main Events: “It’s funny, There’s no champion here, there’s no challenger, It’s a 10-rounder between two guys who are top five fighters and it’s sadly become a rarity in the heavyweight division. We hope to make that a much more common occurrence as we go forward with NBC. We are really pleased that this fight is going to be that kind of pick ’em fight. If you look on the boxing websites you see the comments. One guy says I’m picking Chambers, the next guy says I’m picking Adamek, well that’s what makes a great boxing match. This is a fight that both guys are certain they are coming to win.

Jennings, Chambers, Duva, Adamek

Photo Credits: Yvette Beshier, 1Lifeboxing.com

James Bashir, Chambers Trainer: “It is a breath of fresh air to be working with someone who wants to fight with the best. You couldn’t ask for a better match up. These are two guys who want it, two different styles clashing and two guys who are not trying to avoid anything in boxing. Ziggy (Rozalski, Adamek’s advisor) said to me earlier, ‘We were surprised that Eddie took this fight,’ and I said ‘Hmm, we were surprised that Tomasz took this fight!’ Not only does this fight do good for the fans, not only does this fight do good for the heavyweight division, this fight does good for boxing period! Boxing needs healing and these guys meeting each other at this level is great! It’s a great fight. It’s one of the most exciting fights out there. Mayweather and Cotto are getting ready to fight, but to me it’s a fight that should have happened five years ago. This fight is happening right on time. Both guys have met and been defeated by the Klitschko brothers and where else do you go but right back to the top by fighting the best in the division? So on the 16th we are going to match wits to see who is the best guy to go back and meet the champions.”

Chambers, Jennings and Adamek

Photo Credits to Mike Gladysz

Eddie Chambers: “I really think this opportunity is great for all parties involved. It’s almost like back in the days when I was growing up, you had those three channels and you could still get the fights. We are starting to get that back, where everybody could see the fights. I think it’s great. I think you couldn’t have put two more classy fighters in the ring together -two fighters that are going to fight, similar styles, more action. I know Tomasz is going to have a lot of fans coming to support him, so please come out and support me!”

Eddie Chambers
Photo Credit: Jayson Colon/FightImages.com

Tomasz Adamek: “I am very excited to come back to Prudential Center. I want to give a good fight to my fans. I think for everybody this is a good situation, it is very close to my home and all my fans can come to see me.”