Okay, here’s the bulletpoints of doom for my second straight night at the Rock, this time (hopefully) without invisible ink (Warning: If invisible ink is used, please refrain from squirting lemon juice on your computer screen):

- Going with the wife to see the Tomasz Adamek fight at the Prudential Center. Adamek is a Polish fighter who now makes his home in Jersey City. He was recently the cruiserweight champion (and is still recognized as the Ring Magazine Cruiserweight Champion), but moved up to heavyweight in his last fight in Poland where he beat Andrew Golota (who you might remember in his big moment repeatedly punching Riddick Bowe in the groin). Now he’s facing his second straight heavyweight, Jason Estrada, a former US Olympian who is not related to Eric.

- The thing to keep in mind here is that when Adamek fights at the Prudential Center, Newark becomes a suburb of Warsaw. It’s crazy, but every time he fights here they sell out 10,000+ tickets, including people who obviously just flew in from Poland. There are definitely managers at discos in Linden who will be wondering why their clubs are so empty tonight. The Rock becomes a sea of red and white – it’s really amazing.

- We get there 10 minutes early. The good news: this means we get to see all the fights. The bad news: we have to stand in the cold for 10 minutes with a bunch of ridiculously drunk Europeans. You stay classy, Gdansk.

- Finally get inside. They curtained off the section between the red line and the goal, and most of the upper tiers are blacked out, but they’re definitely gonna make some money on this – apparently they had to open up some more sections this morning due to ticket demand. The funny thing is, compared to the previous night at the Devils game, the arena looks dead. I guess it’s because the Devils are not there, so all the light-up signs and cheerleaders and mascots are gone, and many of the best concessions are closed.

- First match: An undefeated light heavyweight from the Ukraine vs. a dude from Houston. The Ukraine guy is 9-0 with 8 KOs, so it’s not hard to figure out where this is going. Sure enough – 3rd round KO. Not a bad start.

- Things are about to pick up: Next match stars Jersey City’s own, Patrick Farrell! Never heard of him, but still – Irish redhead from JC, and he may even be a long-lost cousin of mine! I wish there was a gimmick table like it was an ROH event – I would have bought like 15 Patrick Farrell t-shirts. (And really, it’s a shame that there isn’t a gimmick table. The life of an up-and-coming boxer is so similar to the life of an indie wrestler – no union, few mentors, paying through the nose for training and ring time, driving 300 miles to get paid $20 on an undercard. The only difference is, at least Necro Butcher gets to sell autographed photos)

- Patrick is a cruiserweight (my favorite class), 4-0 with 3 KOs. I’m pulling for another KO, until I find out his opponent, from the Bronx, is nicknamed “The Fighting Marine”. Couple things here: (1) You can’t root for a US Marine to be knocked out, and (2) “The Fighting Marine” is a historic nickname. That was the nickname for Gene Tunney, one of the most underrated heavyweight champions ever (two wins over Jack Dempsey, only one career loss, retired as the champ). I’m still rooting for Patrick, but hoping this goes all four rounds.

- Patrick Farrell has a cheering section right behind me, and he even gets an entrance video! He gets a nice JC cheer when he’s introduced, and puts on a pretty good performance. He’s still pretty green (he left himself open for shots and failed to follow up on some good hits), but he has the Fighting Marine on Dream Street a couple times. Nice match!

- We get junior middleweights next. The “opponent” is a guy out of Seattle, and the “homer” is a guy from Morganville, NJ named Denis Douglin. He’s 6-0 with 3KOs, but the things that distinguishes him the most are his nickname (“Momma’s Boy”) and the fact that his manager is a chick (albeit a chick who looks like she’s kicked a lot of asses). Douglin puts in a good effort and wins a 6-round decision.

- Next match is a super middleweight match between a guy from Poland and a guy from Youngstown. I wonder if they switched places if they would notice any differences. Anyway, I missed this match and took this time to get some snacks. Here’s a free Pru Center tip: As I said yesterday, the seats are very comfortable. On a related note, they can also be very slippery. Thus, if you try to move down a row by stepping down on the seat in front of you, your foot might slip and my foot…I mean YOUR foot – your foot might slip through the back of the chair and lead to much embarrassment.

- Back with more Mrs. Field’s cookies just in time for the semi-main event: a super middleweight match between a dude from Ecuador and the designated “homer” – a guy from Brooklyn named Peter Quillen. Quillen (who gets the entrance video) is 20-0 with 15 KOs, so there’s hope for this match.

- I’m a little disappointed in Quillen for one reason: he picked the wrong nickname. He’s Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillen. Forgetting the fact that he’s stealing a nickname from the 30s (which isn’t a bad thing if you can back it up), in the modern world that nickname is borderline inappropriate – I feel dirty just typing it. Plus, this isn’t rocket science: how could he not have picked “Killin’” Peter Quillen? IT’S RIGHT THERE!

- This match goes all 10 rounds and sucks all the air out of the arena. Quillen dominates every round but fails to show enough power to get his opponent down. He wins the decision, then grabs a burlap sack and pulls out – Damion! No, just kidding – he pulls out chocolate candies and throws them into the crowd. Okay, I’m softening on his nickname.

- Jason Estrada comes out for the main event and is soundly booed by the crowd. Amazing – he’s a US Olympian, and this match is being held in AMERICA, yet he gets booed. Estrada plays a good heel, though, and raises his arms in victory to the crowd while soaking in the jeers.

- I don’t care if you’re a Rangers fan, and Jets fan, a Knicks fan, a Devils fan – there’s nothing like a crowd cheering when the pride of a nation is at stake. Adamek comes out, and 10,000 Polacks blow the roof off the building. Unreal.

- The bell rings for the first round, but the ref holds the fighters in their corners. Why? Because they never played the national anthems, so 10,000 fans stand up and sing the Polska national anthem. Unreal.

- Unfortunately, the fight doesn’t live up to expectations. Adamek wins, but it didn’t look all that great – he couldn’t get many punches through to Estrada, he stayed on the ropes most of the fight, and he never had Estrada in trouble. Doesn’t make me confident in Adamek’s next proposed fight (against top-5 heavyweight contender Cris Arreola) if he can’t take out B-level Estrada. Still, 10,000 Polish fans get to go home (or to disco clubs) happy.

- They had one more 4-round fight in the can, so as most of the Polish crowd leaves, we few remaining fans get one more junior welterweight fight. Both guys are from Brooklyn, but one guy (“World Kid” Sadam Ali) gets the entrance video. He fights a great fight and wins an easy decision. He apparently brought a cheering section, and during the first round they start chanting “Ali Bumbaye!” Nice touch.

- We take car service home. One negative point about the Prudential Center – there’s no designated pick-up/drop-off point, and they close a lot of streets during events, so it’s tough to get a ride after the game. Anyway, we find our car, and my wife, who’s very chatty, talks up the driver. Turns out he and his wife raise fighting chickens (which he defends by saying “It’s legal in Alabama!”) and one set of grandparents were first cousins. I’m really gonna miss that man.

So, after two nights at the Rock, I’m ready for some more (but my wallet says otherwise). Take in a game there if you get a chance – it’s a good joint.

(Thanks to Christian for supplying me with some front page material while I recoup! For part one of this extensive piece, visit the Trapper Keeper and don't forget your lemon juice!)

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