Kamil “Szczurek” Laszczyk
By Les Dowgier
After a very disappointing showing by Patrick Majewski against Curtis Stevens two weeks ago in Atlantic City, North Bergen’s own Global Boxing team bounced back tonight with a great showing by two of its fighters on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights at Chicago’s UIC Pavilion. Though only one of the fights was televised, this was nonetheless a sizable victory for the two young, up-and-coming fighters as well as for their fledgling promoter, Global Boxing Promotions, and all in front of a crowd which included the one and only “Iron” Mike Tyson ringside.
In the co-feature of the night, an 8 round featherweight contest, Kamil “Szczurek” Laszczyk (whose nickname translates to “Little Rat”; a minor correction to Teddy’s translation of “Rat”) improved his record to 16-0, 7 KOs, with a unanimous decision victory over the durable and very game Daniel “El General” Diaz, now 20-6, 14 KOs. Diaz, a former world title challenger at bantamweight, had not been very active lately, which was in direct contract to Laszczyk, and it showed from the opening bell. Laszczyk came out fast and aggressive, showing a good jab and letting go of his hands quite a bit as Diaz backed up and covered up. Though Diaz blocked a lot of Kamil’s punches, it was clear that quite a few were penetrating his guard, including numerous body shots. Towards the end of the 1st round, the fight opened up a bit and both fighters began to land, with Laszczyk maintaining the advantage. Then, with a mere 23 second remaining in the opening rounds, Diaz landed a right hand on chin of Laszczyk, who took it well and immediately returned the favor, dropping Diaz to the canvas. Though Diaz got up quickly and did not appear hurt, that set the early tone.
As the fight progressed, the dynamic remained virtually identical with the younger and naturally larger Polish fighter using his legs to move around the ring and maintain a proper distance against the longer Diaz, only closing the distance to mount a smothering inside attack, which always consisted of combinations with heavy shots landing to the body. Despite Diaz sparking small rallies in the 4th (when both fighters were cut) and the 7th (when Diaz appeared to stun Laszczyk) the dynamic remained the same, with Diaz allowing the shorter Laszczyk to close the distance at will without even attempting to catch the Pole as he did so, much to Teddy’s vocal disapproval, and paying the price for it in close. After the final bell rang, the judges had the fight the same way everyone else watching it did, as a clear victory for Laszczyk. The finals tallies were 79-72, 79-72 and 78-73.
The other Global Boxing fighter who had a very good night, though one which only the audience in attendance could appreciate, was young Patryk Szymanski. The 20 year old light middleweight notched his 9th career victory in his 9th professional fight with a 2nd round TKO over Lansing, Michigan’s Daniel “Pokey The Punisher” Hicks, who drops to 5-4, 3 KOs.
Overall, this was a good night for these two young fighter, for their up and coming New Jersey based promoter as well as New Jersey Boxing. Let’s hope there are many more nights like this to come.