By Joseph Staszewski
Will Rosinsky couldn’t fully size up Joe Smith Jr.
The Ozone Park native couldn’t build off a strong start and lost a unanimous decision, 98-92, 97-93, 96-94, to the bigger and harder-hitting Joe Smith Jr. in a light heavyweight bout at Barclays Center Saturday. The fight was part of the undercard of the middleweight title fight between Danny Jacobs and Peter Quillin.
“I was boxing better in the first couple rounds,” said the 5-foot-8 Rosinsky. “His size played a role in the later rounds. He’s a big guy, a tough guy. He had a lot of little elbows, hitting right at the belt line, which was smart. The refs didn’t catch it.”
Rosinsky (10-3, 10 KOs), who now lives in Lynbrook, clearly won the first two rounds, thoroughly outboxing the long-armed, 6-foot-tall Smith. The Archbishop Molloy and Queens College grad was super aggressive, landing some well-timed combinations. Things were going the way he wanted.
“The plan the whole time was to pretty much box him,” the Brooklyn firefighter said.
But the tempo of the fight changed after Smith (20-1, 16 KOs) landed a sharp right in the fourth round. Smith then began landing numerous hard shots and picked up the pace. A solid right in the fifth round opened up a deep cut over Rosinsky’s left eye and hampered him for the rest of the bout.
“I wasn’t in pain, but when the blood goes in your eye, it kind of blurs your vision,” he said. “I kept wiping it to get it out of my eye. I didn’t want to show that it was bothering me, but I had no choice.”
Smith, who has sparred with Rosinsky regularly, dominated the middle rounds. Rosinsky said nothing took him by surprise, other than his jab being a little better.
Rosinsky eventually found his footing again in the seventh and ninth rounds. He returned to throwing the combination punches he landed early, but Smith connected on too many power shots in between.
Rosinsky said he enjoyed the night despite the loss. A large contingent of fans made their way down with a huge banner from his Engine Company 234 in Crown Heights. Rosinsky brought a flag from the group to the ring and had the numbers on his trunks. The experience was memorable.
“I think it is even more so now that I am a fireman,” Rosinsky said. “A lot of then showed out for that and more firemen showed up. I had fun.”
