Fighting For A Worthy Cause

Although it was an unpopular stoppage, none of the crowd had to be in Richard Kiley’s shoes, fighting with just one functioning eye against a boxer with Adams’ skill.

After the fight, Adams’ trainer, Lennox Blackmoore, sounded pleased with the performance. “This was an important fight for Brian, televised to a national audience. A lot of people saw an extremely focused ‘pure boxer’ tonight. I think we all saw his potential as a pro.”

Adams will continue to build on the success of fights like this one. His manager, Arnie Rosenthal, thinks he may even get a shot at the Lightweight title in 2002. In any event, this fight was a big step forward for the Punching Poet. A few more people will recognize him the next time he takes his familiar jog along his favorite strip in Hollis, a long stretch of streets adjacent to the Long Island Expressway. A few more autograph seekers will interrupt him when he’s hanging out with his friends on the street.

“I’d love to have a fight in Queens eventually. That would be a dream. The neighborhood people are so supportive; they’ve shown me a lot of love.”

There has never been a really big fight in Queens, but if anyone has the drive to make something happen, it is Hollis’ very own hero, the Punching Poet.

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