Polish fighter remains undefeated in hard fought battle vs. Sharpe
By Mike Indri
Retired Boxers Foundation
August 8, 2006

Whippany, NJ - Talented middleweight Pawel "The New Raging Bull" Wolak faced the biggest test of his young professional career at the KEA Boxing promoted fightcard in Whippany this past Friday night (Aug. 4th), and the gritty Polish fighter practically aced the exam, proving he is for real.

Pawel Wolak (right) battles Dennis Sharpe during the Polish Wolak's 5th round TKO win during the KEA Boxing Promotions fightcard at the Whippany Birchwood Manor. Photo by: Ed Mulholland

Facing his toughest challenge to date, against Bayonne's Dennis Sharpe, Wolak fought through adversity early in the scheduled eight round bout and, with the fortitude and guile of a seasoned veteran, stuck to his fight plan and battered the gutsy Sharpe en route to a well earned technical knockout win. Whether the result of an accidental head butt or the cumulative effect of the many punches which found their mark by Sharpe in the close quarters brawl, Wolak came away with a deep cut over his right eye before the end of round one.

Somehow Wolak came out for round two still bleeding from the eye, and Sharpe began targeting the area with his jabs and short punches. The stronger Wolak answered by hurting his foe with a powerful assault to the body & head. By the start of round four, the question of who would prevail would be answered with - what would give out first: Sharpe's tough chin or the, getting nastier by the minute, cut eye of Wolak?

The feverish pace continued in this "fight of the night", which could have been fought in a phone booth or back alley. Wolak, with his eye bleeding freely, was now taking it to Sharpe, whose reddened face and swollen eyes were signs of the constant punishment, which the 24-year-old Polish fighter from Mt. Arlington, NJ was administering with his "never stop coming forward and never stop throwing punches" attack. By the fifth round it was evident to the frenzied capacity crowd that the end was near for the tough as nails Sharpe, who was fighting for the first time since his devastating loss to Giovanni Lorenzo (TKO 1: 01/29/05) well over a year ago. Now slowing down and getting tagged with some vicious Wolak bombs, Sharpe staggered back to his corner as the bell came to his rescue.

Pawel Wolak, with the deep cut over his right eye serving as his badge of honor, sees his hand raised in victory after the Mt. Arlington's impressive victory over the tough Dennis Sharpe. Photo by: Ed Mulholland

With Danny Milano, one of the better cutmen in the business, diligently working on his damaged fighter, the ring doctor, Dr. Marc Sahber, advised against Sharpe continuing - due to excessive swelling which was closing both of Sharpe's eyes, as well as the fact that he was taking too much punishment - and referee Eddie Cotton rightfully called a halt to the exciting and very entertaining bout.

While the 31-year-old Sharpe has now been beaten and stopped in his last two fights (17-2-1, 4 KO's), the resounding victory propelled the undefeated Pawel Wolak, now 10-0 with 6 KO's, to the next level in the extremely talent rich middleweight division.

Also on the KEA Boxing promotions fightcard:
Lyndhurst's Wayne Johnsen continued on his winning ways with a stirring 2nd round TKO win over James Sundin in a scheduled eight round super middleweight bout. Johnsen, now 13-1 (8 KO's), pounded Sundin from the opening bell and erased any thoughts the Salt Lake City, Utah fighter had of revenging his earlier loss to Johnsen (06/11/05: UD 4) at Madison Square Garden, NY. The extremely popular Johnsen does show promise and has improved with each outing, but needs to definitely step up his level of competition to be seriously considered. Sundin, drops to 6-4 (3 KO's), and has lost his last four consecutive fights.

In a battle of super flyweights, both fighters tipping the scales at 114 lbs and both making their pro debuts, Philadelphia's Omar Carrol battled J.V. Tuazon to a draw, in a four round slugfest. While the two boxers showed talent and both worked hard enough to win, neither deserved to lose and the crowd appreciated the draw and the worthy effort of both Carrol, and Jersey City's Tuazan.

Also making his pro debut was Brooklyn's Nick DeMarco. While "Little Nicky" delighted his big following with a 1st round KO win, unfortunately it came against Eric Dean (0-3). Dean, who has yet to make it out of the first road in any of his three losses, pitifully embarrassed himself after taking DeMarco's first power shot and then looked for a soft spot on the canvas to wave "no mas" and lay, face down, for a count of ten.

Luckily there were no quitters in the female bout between Wendy LaMotta and LeAnne Villareal. LaMotta, now 6-1 (2 KO's), thrilled the crowd in picking up the unanimous decision victory against a very competitive Villareal, whose very deceptive record fell to 1-9-1.

Although there were only five fights on the KEA Boxing Promotions return to NJ Boxing, it was a good time for the close to 1,000 ticket buyers that crammed their way into the exquisite and lavishly upscale Birchwood Manor in Whippany. A rather unusual venue for a boxing club show, yet promoter Andre Kut was obviously pleased with the successful showing.

"We (KEA Boxing) are looking to put on good fights, in a place where you can bring all the family," stated the resilient Kut, who isn't new to boxing promotions, adding "That's what KEA Boxing is all about: good boxing, great fights, and there will be more of the same at our next boxing show here at the Birchwood Manor on Friday, November 10th!"