This past weekend I was at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif. where Tomasz Adamek of Jersey City, NJ, by way of Zyweic, Poland, successfully defended his IBF International heavyweight title over Chris Arreola of Riverside, Calf. before a nationally televised audience on HBO.
It was definitely a good night of boxing and it’s rare to say that on a heavyweight match these days. I think the fans had lot to do with it. Though Arreola was fighting in his hometown, the majority were polish fans with many of them wearing scarves in their native red and white colors creating a championship-like atmosphere inside the arena.
Many well known boxers also attended but one that stood out was a newly crowned middleweight champion of the world Sergio Martinez. Being that I chose Martinez to upset Kelly Pavlik earlier this month, I immediately congratulated him for his spectacular win. If you never met Martinez in person, he’s one of the most respectful and polite person you will ever meet.
Martinez couldn’t tell me what his plans were next as he has to decide if he wants to keep the new middleweight belts he won or go down to a junior middleweight to defend that title. He has a couple of weeks to decide but one thing is for sure, I will double my bet next time.
After the fight we met up at the Hilton Hotel and had some drinks though I couldn’t peacefully drink a beer with Arreola as he kept being smothered by polish fans. Arreola is one funny dude and very fan friendly. He didn’t care he lost to Adamek that night, he took pictures and signed everything the fans gave him. At one point I think I saw him signing his name on a girl’s boobs. His definitely an awesome person to hang out with. Just don’t expect him not to curse as cursing is part of his vocabulary.
Photos by Raymond Rodriguez
