Most boxing fans see today’s heavyweight division as a sleepy, boring place. Rightfully so. But rest assured, Artur “Big Pin” Szpillka (SHPILL-ka) is going to do something about it.
Southpaw Szpillka (6-0, 4 KOs) of North Bergen, New Jersey, by way of Wieliczka, Poland, is already known overseas as one of the hottest heavyweight prospects in boxing. He is also building a growing reputation as one of the sport’s most colorful new characters.
From the orange prison jumpsuit he wears into the ring to his dust-ups outside of it, the 22-year-old southpaw has the iron fists and bad attitude to shake up boxing’s most peaceful division.
Szpillka is now signed to a co-promotional agreement with Florida-based Warriors Boxing and Poland-based 12 Round Knockout Promotions.
He will make his triumphant return to American soil when he faces David Williams (6-4-1, 2 KO) of Philadelphia on July 29 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, on a card entitled “Heat Wave”, promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports and dynamic, new North Bergen, New Jersey-based promotional firm Global Boxing, headed by Mariusz Kolodziej.
“Heat Wave” will be headlined by the Mariusz Wach vs. Kevin McBride heavyweight showdown.
Szpillka boasts a strong amateur pedigree; the former Polish amateur champion went an impressive 102-5 against strong international competition. He stands 6′ 3″ and weighs in around 240 lbs., but is blessed with terrific timing, good hand speed, wicked power and fluid upper-body movement.
“Artur has tremendous potential,” said his co-promoter, Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing. “He’s so young, but he’s already so strong and he has an exciting, confusing style that baffles his opponents on their way to the canvas. Fans back in Poland are crazy about him and now we’re bringing him to the U.S. where he can start making a name for himself over here. It won’t take long.”
In his last fight, Szpillka turned many heads by flattening unbeaten Bosnian Ramiz Hadziaganovic with a perfectly timed right hook in just 33 seconds of the first round.
Szpillka’s story already reads like a movie. He witnessed his father’s death at four years old and picked up boxing at the age of 15, when he was discovered by his trainer during a soccer hooligans’ fight.
He turned pro in 2008 as a cruiserweight, but has since gained 40 pounds of muscle.
“It’s too early in his career to proclaim him the next great Polish heavyweight,” added Margules, “but what he is, is an unpredictable, cocky, powerful, dangerous breath of fresh air in a division that desperately needs it. No matter what Artur does, he does it with his own flair and we’re proud to be introducing him to this side of the world.”
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“Heat Wave” features two championship bouts – a 12-round showdown between Kevin McBride (35-9-1, 29 KOs) and Mariusz Wach (24-0, 12 KOs) for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) International heavyweight title, and a 10-round intrastate battle between Elvin Ayala (23-5-1, 11 KOs) of New Haven, Conn., and rival Israel “Pito” Cardona (36-10, 28 KOs) of Hartford for the vacant WBC United States National Boxing Council (USNBC) middleweight title.
The undercard includes New Haven welterweight Edwin Soto (6-0-1, 2 KOs) battling Michael Denby (3-11-4, 2 KOs) of Felton, Delaware. Cruiserweight Jose Torres of Springfield, Mass., will make his debut against fellow newcomer Pedro Rivera of Southbridge, Mass.; super middleweight Greg McCoy (2-3-1, 1 KO) of New Haven will fight in a separate four-round bout against Worcester’s Ralph Johnson (0-1); and super middleweight Keith Kozlin (6-2, 4 KOs) of Warwick, R.I., will face Woonsocket’s Reynaldo Rodriguez (5-2, 2 KOs) in a six-round intrastate showdown. In a special attraction will be an eight-round light middleweight bout featuring Worcester, Mass., veteran and former three-time world champion Jose Antonio Rivera (40-6-1, 24 KOs). All fights and fighters are subject to change.
Tickets for “Heat Wave,” which are priced at $40, $65 and $105, can be purchased by calling CES at 401.724.2253/2254 or Ticketmaster at1.800.745.3000. Fans can also purchase tickets online at www.cesboxing.com,www.ticketmaster.com, or at the Mohegan Sun Box Office. For more information on “Heat Wave,” visit www.cesboxing.com or www.mohegansun.com. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the first bout scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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