Ring Girl KOed at Sands' Saturday Night Fights

Frank Pintabone with Ron Angle

There were several knockouts at Saturday night's Fight Night, broadcast by NBC Sports at Bethlehem's Sands Event Center. Before a rowdy crowd of about 1,000 fight enthusiasts that included former heavyweight champ Larry Holmes, Vasily "The Professor" Lepikhin from Russia schooled Robert "The Mad Butcher" Berridge from New Zealand, finishing the fight with a TKO in the fifth round. Another New Zealander, 6'4" Joseph Parker, knocked out Alabaman Keith Thompson in the third. But the knock out that worried fans most of all was, believe it or not, was to one of the ring girls.

A petite blond wearing a skimpy outfit that left very little to the imagination, she drew more applause than anyone. She did a header while exiting the ring after one of the fights. The crowd was hushed into silence as she sprawled out on the floor. The ring doctor immediately went to her assistance, abandoning a fighter. But distracted by her alluring apparel, he did a header, too. Both were lying on the floor in a bit of a stupor.

The Easton assassin with a character assassin

That's when the Northampton County Bulldog, Ron Angle, sprung into action.

"I'm a doctor," he announced, and went to the girl's side, assisted by Easton School Director Frank Pintabone. Frank was at the fights, too. Though Frank has no medical degree, he had been the "cut man" in several corners throughout the night, so that has to count for something.

Angle and Pintabone pronounced the doctor dead and went to work on the girl.

"Look, I'm alright now, you can let me go," said the ring girl.

"This girl obviously has a concussion," announced Angle. "She needs mouth to mouth," he added, as he and Frank dragged her away, kicking and screaming.

Steve Cunningham

Actually, as most of you know, I'm making up the bit about Ron and Pintabone. The girl and even the doc did go down, but she left on her own two legs, with an ice bag on her derriere.

It was a great night at the fights. Frank really did act as the cut man for several of the fighters. In Easton, he is working with several fighters, including his son, Elijah "Boom Boom" Pintabone. He and Ron met each other and tried to explain to me why sane people can be school directors.

It was a night in which Bethlehem boxers Luis Acevedo and Ismael Serrano prevailed in the lightweights. But to me, the fight of the night involved two heavyweights who pounded each other for ten rounds, with neither giving an inch. One was a fighter, the other a boxer. The boxer prevailed.

Vyacheslav Glazkov from Ukraine, known as the Czar, is the boxer. I first saw him in March, when he chipped away at Tomasz Ademek, the world's then #2 ranked heavyweight contender, defeating him in a 12-round match.

Ron Cruz

On Saturday, the Czar faced an opponent disparagingly referred to as a journeyman. New York's Derric Rossy, a former golden gloves champion in NYC and one-time defensive end for Boston College, was no slouch. He was a fighter with the heart of a champion, who grew stronger in each round. Both fighters shook off punches that would have knocked me into the next century. When the bout was over, there was no clear winner. Larry Holmes, who was sitting right in front of Angle and I, said the judges would give it to Glaxkov because of his technical skill, and he was right.

In an alley, I'd take Rossy.

In addition to these heavyweight fights, there was a lot of action in the lighter divisions. Bethlehem's very own Ismael Serrano is now 2-1 after defeating Allentown's Jonathan Williams. Luis Acevedo, another Bethlehemite, was floating on air after defeating fellow featherweight Frankie Garriga, a golden gloves champion from the Bronx..

The night was also punctuated by other boxers among the fans. I met Frank's son, Elijah "Boom Boom" Pintabone, who at 15 is still an amateur. Frank introduced Ron and I to Bethlehem Basher Ronald Cruz as well as USBA heavyweight champ Steve Cunningham, who was there with his wife.

We were in heaven.

I have a story to tell you about Steve Cunningham's nine year-old daughter. I'll do that tomorrow.

Poland's Pride Faces the Czar in Bethlehem

Allentown blogger Michael Molovinsky is the boxing expert, not me. His stories about Abe Simon are a welcome respite from the Land of NIZ, where J.B. Reilly pulls the strings behind the curtains of a depressing urban growth regime. Although I'm no expert, I do like boxing as a fan, and have gone to a few recent bouts at the Sands with Ron Angle, Upper Mount Bethel's Sultan of Shit. Saturday night's fights, which will be broadcast on NBC Sports, were wild, with a bit of an international flavor. Ukranians and Russians were there in force, but the biggest and loudest crowd by far were the Poles. They came from everywhere, draped in the red and white Polish flag, to cheer for Tomasz Ademek, the world's #2 ranked heavyweight contender. After a 12-round bout, he's now ranked #7.


The place was sold out. The little town of Bethlehem was hosting two of the biggest and meanest boxers in the world.

Adamcek, also the IBF "International" Heavyweight Champ, has only been beaten twice in over 50 pro fights. Both losses were to World Champions. So he was favored against a boxer in his first ever 12-rounder. But the Pole soon learned he was up against a younger and bigger version of himself. A hard hitter who makes no mistakes. That man, in the blue trunks, is the Ukraine's Vyacheslav "The Czar" Glazkov. He's undefeated at 17 wins, 0 losses and 1 draw.

The Czar was way ahead in points in the early rounds, especially after a gash opened up over Adamek's eye, blocking his visibility. Adamaek won the final two rounds, coming on strong, thanks in large part to a very enthusiastic crowd waving Polish flags and screaming things like "Pierogi!" and "Halupki!"

It was not enough.

To his credit, the Czar never backed away.

Drago's son

Ukraine may not be doing well on the international stage these days, but in the boxing arena, Russia's next door neighbor has the #2 ranked world heavyweight.

The Russians? They have a loser. Denis "Drago's Son" Grachev (13-3-1, 8 KOs) of Chaykoysky, Russia, lost a unanimous decision to South Africa's Isaac “Golden Boy” Chilemba in a match between the two light heavyweights. Drago's son flailed wildly against the steady jab of the South African.

Finally, in a 10-round match, Bethlehem welterweight Ronald Cruz lost a close bout to Reading's Kermit Cintron. As loud as the crowd

There were seven matches total. At the end of the night, Angle hopped into the ring and challenged the audience. They ran in horror from the Northampton County Bulldog, especially after he pulled out a few shit pellets. Several Polish fans were trampled.

Boxing for 5 Year-Olds? Is Everyone in Allentown Nutz?

Boxing has been banned as a school sport in most of the U.S. since the 1950's. The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Medical Association both advocate that no one under the age of 18 be allowed to participate. The British Medical Association agrees, and has these two concerns:

1. Children have little awareness of risk, specifically the risk of chronic encephalopathy, which develops only after a lag period measured in decades or more.

2. There is no place in contemporary society for a youth sport which has, as its primary goal, the infliction of acute brain damage on an opponent.

But what the hell do doctors know? Who ya' gonna believe, medical experts or some punch-drunk ex-fighter who barely speaks English? If you're an Allentown city official, you listen to the pugilist.

Allentown has started a boxing program so that inner city kids as young as 5 can bash each others' brains out. A 13 year-old girl brags, "It makes me feel tough." Allentown Rec Superintendent Kevin Easterling calls kids' boxing a "no brainer." Unfortunately, that's what they'll be when they're done. I admire Kevin, but isn't it completely reckless to allow children to participate in a dangerous activity condemned by medical authorities? Put another way, is everyone in Allentown nutz?

Boxing bambinos are funded as part of Allentown's Weed 'n Seed program. I'd like to know who the hell approved that. If you come from a really poor area of Allentown, you can bash a kids' brains out for free. If you come from a more wealthy area, you can just buy a damn video game or hire somebody.

I asked Kevin what the hell they're drinking in Allentown.

"Bernie, have you ever played football?"

(Sports dudes like to start conversations that way, and usually end up telling tales about having their heads ripped off as a pee wee but popping them back on with duct tape and continuing to play).

"Bernie, those five year old kids aren't fighting. The community actually approached us and asked for this. We let them play football and this is actually safer."

- "The community asked for this, Kevin? What if they asked for dog-fighting? Would you give them that? No, but you'll give them this."

As I brayed irrationally on the phone, Easterling calmly told me he shares a lot of my concerns and assured me only the oldest kids are really allowed to fight. He's invited me to drop by the gym to check it out. So he and I are going to pop over one night later this week, and if any of those brats try anything, I'll clobber them.

I'll be back.