Friday, March 4th 2011
Football Star to Fight on “Relentless” Undercard
Football star Tom Zbikowski is ditching his helmet and pads for boxing gloves, albeit temporarily. The 25-year-old, who plays safety in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens, will fight for the second time as a pro March 12th on the “Relentless” undercard featuring Puerto Rican veteran MIGUEL COTTO’s defense of his super welterweight crown against the fiery Nicaraguan Ricardo Mayorga.
“I’ve been waiting five years,” said an excited Zbikowski of his upcoming bout against the 225-pound Richard Bryan (1-2-0, 0 KOs), of London, Kentucky. “Right now, I’m enjoying every minute of being a fighter…again.”
Coincidentally, Zbikowski made his pro debut in 2006 on the undercard of Cotto’s successful defense of his junior welterweight title against the then-undefeated Paulie Malignaggi. That night at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the speedy, hard-punching Zbikowski beat Robert Bell in spectacular fashion, knocking out the bigger but slower man in the first 49 seconds of the opening round.
“It was a lot of nerves. It was the real deal,” recalled Zbikowski of the fight. He added, “It was my top moment in my athletic career. I remember everything about that night. It was 100 rounds of sparring for 50 seconds of fighting.”
A native of Park Ridge, Illinois, the 25-year-old Zbikowski joins fellow Notre Dame graduate MIKE LEE on the Top Rank roster. Zbikowski is training with Orlando Cuellar, whose most famous pupil is former light heavyweight champ Glen Johnson, of Clarendon, Jamaica.
“He’s got a very modern philosophy on how he trains fighters. He modifies you and gives you those small details…that’s gonna take a fighter to another level,” said Zbikowski.
Watch Zbikowski’s debut pro fight:
In preparation for the four-round contest, Zbikowski has switched his work-out from weightlifting to a more “functional” approach suited for boxing. “[I]always fight my fight, which is a much higher, faster pace. I always fought like a welterweight,” he said, adding that cruiserweight is his preferred division. “I think I can fight at my pace without getting tired.”
As for a potential conflict with the NFL, which is in the middle of labor negotiations between owners and players, Zbikowski said: “There is really nothing that can stop me from fighting on March 12th.”
Top Rank founder Bob Arum said of Zbikowski’s future in boxing: “As long as he is available to fight, we plan to keep him very busy.” Translation: assuming there are no scheduling conflicts with the Ravens, fight fans can expect to see him in the ring at least once a month.
“[Our matchmakers] feel he can compete at the top level in boxing as a cruiserweight,” continued Arum, who also noted that Zbikowski’s presence on the March 12th card has prompted multiple players from multiple NFL teams, including the Ravens and the New York Giants, to snag tickets to the fight. “Obviously, once they have to go back to [the Baltimore Ravens’] training camp, we’ll be on a hiatus again.”
Until then, Zbikowski has boxing on the brain. “I’m trying to turn as many football fans into boxing fans as possible.
“I feel like there’s a pretty long section of my life without boxing. God, I miss it.”
