With the NFL labor situation melting down into the hands of the lawyers, Baltimore Ravens Safety Tom Zbikowski decided to continue to pursue work in the ring of professional pugilism. Over the weekend Zbikowski stepped into the ring for the second time as a pro.
Fighting on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto-Ricardo Mayorga headliner bout, Zbikowski stopped 225-pound future CPA and nutritionist Richard Bryant in the first of four scheduled rounds with a body shot.
The 193-pound Zbikowski looked like an elite level athlete fighting an average joe. This is not to disparage Zbikowski, but the differences in balance, quickness, power and strength were all too apparent from the git-go.
In the first round Zbikowski threw the unbalanced larger man to the canvas by sheer strength and later dropped him like a bad habit with a body shot. Bryant was all too eager to take a little extra time looking at the stitching on the mat rather than getting to his feet and continue the bout.
Zbikowski looks like a rough and ready guy who carries his left hand a little too low, leads with his head and can punch with the strength of an elite level athlete. With both of Tommy Z’s professional bouts not getting to the second round there’s not a lot of tape to show where he’s at as far as a real boxing career is concerned.
But this i know. Chad Ochocinco might want to think twice (or even three or four times) before stepping into the ring with Zbikowski.
Including aerobic boxing in your off-season training does not constitute preparation for stepping into the ring with a professional fighter. Highly skilled or not, Zbikowski has an extensive amateur record and he’s no diva. Working the mitts and the heavy bag is far, far different than stepping into a ring and facing a snorting, ill-willed opponent with intentions of making you unconcious for awhile.
Let it go Chad.
