"Tommy Z"

At the age of 28, Tom has three pro fights. The former two-time captain and star safety on Notre Dame's Fighting Irish football team, he was also an accomplished amateur boxer.

He made his pro boxing debut at the age of 21 on June, 10, 2006, on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto-Paulie Malignaggi main event at Madison Square Garden in New York and TKO'd Robert Bell in the first round.

In the four-plus years since his first pro fight, Tom finished his college football career at Notre Dame and was a third-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2008 NFL draft. He has become a star for the Ravens, as well: he was their 2009 Special Teams "Most Valuable Player," and a first-alternate for the 2009 Pro Bowl.

He is coming off a unanimous decision win over former mixed martial arts fighter Caleb Grummet on March 26. 

Previously, he scored a first-round knockout win against Richard Bryant in his last fight on March 12.

After the fight, Dan Rafael wrote on ESPN.com [excerpts]: Zbikowski fought in 2006....  That was while he was still playing college football at Notre Dame. Now Zbikowski plays safety for the Baltimore Ravens, but with the NFL labor strife ongoing, he elected to return to boxing.... Zbikowski, who fought as a 193-pound cruiserweight, gave up quite a bit of weight to the 225-pound heavyweight Bryant. Zbikowski needed just 1 minute, 45 seconds to take him out. First, Zbikowski threw him to the canvas when they got tangled up. Then, he ended the fight with a left hand to Bryant's midsection. He went down on a delayed reaction and beat the count, but referee Russell Mora decided to call it off. [End Rafael item]

From the South Bend Tribune, by Eric Hansen, Mar. 4, 2011 [excerpts]: It never was meant to be simply a way to pass the time during a possible NFL work stoppage.

Tom Zbikowski's return to boxing March 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas is the renewing of a passion that simply wouldn't go away. In fact, the former Notre Dame football All-American's presence on the Miguel Cotto-Ricardo Mayorga undercard is the first of what could be several pro bouts, according to the boxer's father, Ed Zbikowski.

"It's not about the money," the elder Zbikowski said Thursday in a telephone interview from Las Vegas. "It's about earning respect in the boxing community. It's also a great way to train for football if there is a lockout, but that's not the primary reason for this. My wife, who hates boxing, knows what a love Tommy has for it. And her reaction? 'Make it happen.'

His hope was to continue his pro boxing career concurrently with an NFL gig, but the Baltimore Ravens never warmed up to that idea. In fact, in 2009, Zbikowski agreed to fight for charity, specifically amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) as a tribute to Ravens director of player development O.J. Brigance. Brigance is afflicted with ALS. But head coach John Harbaugh quashed the event.

What made this fight in Las Vegas possible was Zbikowski's contract situation layered on top of a possible NFL lockout. The three-year contract, which he signed after his days at ND were over, expires Thursday - two days before the Vegas bout. The backup safety and special teams stalwart is expected to re-sign with the Ravens, but until he does, a window exists to pursue boxing.

Boxing promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank Boxing approached Tom Zbikowski about a possible return to the ring in the days following the Super Bowl on Feb. 6. Initially, the plan called for a low-key, low-fanfare affair.

The 5-foot-11 Zbikowski then began training in Miami, and regularly sparred with 6-5, 240-pound Cuban heavyweight Glendy Hernandez. When Arum got wind of Zbikowski holding his own against Hernandez, the plan changed for Zbikowski's comeback to be part of the pay-per-view event.

"Tommy doesn't want this to be a circus," Ed Zbikowski said. "He doesn't want to disrespect the Ravens, either. This is about him returning to a dream he once had and never thought he'd have a chance to touch it again." [End Tribune item]

Tom's webpage address is: www.tomzbikowski28.com.

Fight by Fight - 2011 - in his last fight on 3-26-11 in Atlantic City, NJ, he scored a unanimous decision win over former mixed martial arts fighter Caleb Grummet (0-2): In the first two rounds, he dominated Grummet with uppercuts and jabs, but, as the fight wore on, Tommy began to tire, which allowed Grummet to get off a little more than he had in the early going. That said, Tommy hung in strong, and gave as good as he got in his first pro match to go the distance. The judges scored it through four rounds 39-36, 39-36, and 38-37.

On 3-12-11 in Las Vegas, NV, he TKO'd Richard Bryant (1-2): the fight was on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto-Ricardo Mayorga main event; Tommy scored a knockdown with a left hook to the body in the 1^st round, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:45; after the fight, Tommy said, "I knew I hurt him," the 193-pound Zbikowski said. "I love that I got a body shot for a knockout. I just want to keep it rolling as much as we can."...

2006 - he made his debut at the age of 21 on 6-10-06 in New York, NY, and TKO'd Robert Bell (2-2): the fight was on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto-Paulie Malignaggi main event at Madison Square Garden; Tom scored a knockdown in the 1^st round with a left hook followed by a series of punches - Bell got up, but Tom rocked him with a right hand and the referee stopped the fight at 0:49; after the fight, Tom said, "I worked hard the last six, seven weeks. I wanted to prove that I was more than just a football player."...

Tom also participated in a boxing exhibition for a charity fundraiser in 2007.

From the Chicago Sun-Times, March 7, 2007, by Lacy J. Banks [excerpts]: If he was looking for a conditioning springboard toward Notre Dame's spring football practice, Tom Zbikowski got that and more Tuesday night in a three-round heavyweight boxing exhibition against rugged foe Ryan St. Germain of nearby Elkhart.

"'This was far tougher than my debut as a pro,'" Zbikowski said after winning the match before a Century Center crowd of 1,500 that included Irish football coach Charlie Weis.

Zbikowski, an All-America safety who will be a fifth-year senior next fall, needed only 49 seconds to stop Robert Bell last June 10 at Madison Square Garden in his pro boxing debut.

But although he bloodied St. Germain's nose Tuesday, he also got tagged a few times. Fighting for the third time in a week, St. Germain...gave Zbikowski a battle.

"This kid really hit hard," Zbikowski said. "But it was an entertaining match for charity. I'm glad the people came out and supported it. Now, it's back to football."

"When he decided to apply to play for a fifth year," Weis said, "I told him that I would let him fight and play as long as the fighting was done by the time we started spring ball on March 21. I thought it was imperative for him and for the team for him to just focus on football from here until after the football season.

"He was our captain last year. And with a bunch of kids graduating, I'm really going to be leaning on him even more this next season."

Both Weis and Zbikowski's father, Ed - a former boxer who started Zbikowski in boxing and promoted Tuesday's card - feel Zbikowski has a future as a pro boxer.

"Right now, football is his main passion," Ed Zbikowski said. "Boxing is another method he uses to maintain excellent physical conditioning for football."

Football teammate Trevor Laws is a fan of Zbikowski's boxing career.

"If I were him, I'd go after pro boxing instead of pro football," Laws said. "He's just that good."

Weis doesn't see Zbikowski doing both at the same time.

"He's got to give football its run first," Weis said. "He loves boxing. But he's got the potential to make a bunch of money in football, and you can't really do both at the same time." [End Sun-Times item]

AMATEUR, PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Tom was born in Park Ridge, Illinois, and grew up in a family with one brother, E.J., a teacher who is 29, and one sister, Kristen, 32...his parents are Ed and Susan Zbikowski, a commercial banker...now retired, Ed "Owned a nightclub like a Studio 54, was a printing pressman, and worked as a sales representative for 25 years for a company called Konica-Minolta."...in his youth, he was an amateur boxer - "Maybe four or five amateur fights, Catholic Youth Organization kinds of things, but it would be a fairy tale to call me a boxer."...he currently helps Tom and E.J. run their business, "Tommy Z's Purespeed Sports Clinic" [tommyzpurespeed.com]...sister Kristen played softball at Ohio University - "She was an All-Stater, a junior college All-American, and she ended up getting a scholarship to Florida-Okaloosa Walton. After that, she went to play at University of Ohio."...

Tom started boxing at the age of nine and had 90 amateur fights, with a record of 75-15...

Ed Zbikowski said, "Tom fights righthanded, but a lot of times in his amateur career he would fight southpaw just to score points - he was taught to fight conventional and southpaw. He fought in Belfast, he fought in California, he fought in Florida, he fought in Nebraska, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, he fought in Las Vegas, too. He would win the state tournaments and then go on to the regionals for the Silver Gloves and Junior Olympics."

From the Associated Press, March 29, 2006 [excerpts]: Long before he was intercepting passes and punishing runners in the shadow of Notre Dame's Golden Dome, Tom Zbikowski was a boxer.

He began boxing a month before he turned 10, got a license on his birthday and was fighting amateur bouts near his suburban Chicago home within several months - years before he turned the Fighting Irish from a nickname to a literal description.

"It got in his blood," his father, Ed, said.

Inspired by the hours he and his father spent watching boxing while he grew up - "That's all we did," Zbikowski said -- he's climbed into the ring in such far-flung locales as Las Vegas and Ireland....

"I thought that he would have been a better boxer than a football player, because being a football player you have to have size, you have to have speed," said Ed Zbikowski, himself a former amateur fighter. "It's a lot more difficult to get a scholarship for football than it is to go into the gym and go box."

So far, Zbikowski has done just fine in a helmet and pads.

A third-team All-America last season, he was fourth on the team in tackles with 71 and led the team with five interceptions. He was also was 13^th in the nation in punt returns, averaging 14 yards a return.

Heading into his senior season, Zbikowski is undecided about his future. If he draws interest from the NFL, he'll surely give it a shot. But, if not, he can always climb back into the ring.

"We'll see where it takes me," he said. [End AP item]