‘Thunder’ lowers the boom
Rozicki improves pro boxing record to 4-0 after first-round knockout win over Demendi
Ryan (Thunder) Rozicki continued his dominance in professional boxing on Saturday by beating Kristof Demendi from Slovakia just over two minutes into the first round at Centre 200 on Saturday.
Rozicki, 22, from Sydney Forks, was in the main event of the evening and improved his pro fighting record to 4-0 in front of around 2,200 boxing fans, who enjoyed what was billed as the first professional boxing card in Cape Breton since 1988.
Rozicki hammered Demendi with a right hand to the left of Slovakian’s body in the early minutes of the bout and brought him down to the canvas. The fight was over in only 2:02 into the first round.
“I figured he would move good and would have a good quick jab – which he did – and he would try to tie me with his right hand, but after he would jab, he was dipping down to his right and he was exposing the left side of his body and I saw the opening for the right cross to the body,” said Rozicki, who weighed in at 192.8 pounds on Friday.
“I threw it fast. I didn’t throw it too hard, but I threw it fast and it did the damage – that was the punch that did it.”
Another highly anticipated fight of the evening was the professional debut of Rozicki’s sparring partner and a longtime kickboxer, Steve Whitall of Eskasoni. Whitall, 31, also had a fight that had the crowd on their feet on Saturday night.
After four rounds of a backand-forth match, the fight between Whitall and his opponent, Nick Naccarato of Ontario, ended with the judges declaring the bout a draw.
Whitall said he was pleased about the way his debut went and was glad the Cape Breton crowd was rooting for him throughout the fight.
“It felt fantastic. I had the crowd behind me. I can’t take anything from my opponent. When he came out he was a heavy hitter and I knew I had to stay away from him, but I
picked him apart and it turned out it was a draw,” said Whitall, who added that he thought the fight was close for all four rounds.
“It was a great call because I felt being inside the fight that it was back and forth. The biggest part was that he had a lot of power, but I had the crowd behind me and that’s what kept me in there. I loved it and really enjoyed it.”
The fight card, organized by L-Jack’s promotions, featured seven professional fights and
Rozicki said he intends to continue to bring boxing back to Cape Breton after the successful evening of fights on Saturday.
“The first opportunity, we’re going to take it and there could be big news in the future. We have a fight lined up and we don’t want to announce it yet because nothing is signed yet, but we’re looking to take belts and take names very soon,” said Rozicki.