Mancini to take ring against McIntosh for farewell match

Date: 9/15/2010

Sept. 15, 2010

By Katelyn Gendron

Reminder Assistant Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD -- Town Councilor Robert Mancini entered the boxing ring in March with a cracked rib to fight Kevin DeJoinville of Agawam in Celebrity Boxing 18.

Mancini, now with a clean bill of health and a title to his name, is returning for his farewell match against actor Derrick McIntosh for the Lightweight Title on Oct. 2 courtesy of Celebrity Bing Bang Boxing & Wrestling.

"I'm knockin' this kid out!" Mancini said at a press conference on Sept. 10. "Win, lose or draw, I'm going for broke. I'm throwin' bombs at this kid's head."

McIntosh, best known for his work on the TV show "One Tree Hill," did not attend the press conference.

Mancini maintained that his weekend training regiment for the fight is not interfering with his work on the town council.

The Mancini-McIntosh match will open for the main event featuring VH1 reality show personality 12 Pack, best known for his role on "I Love New York," versus Todd "The Punisher" Poulton.

The Battle of the Springfield Females will allow Patty Poteat of Westfield to take a swing at Kerry Schwartz of Brooklyn, N.Y., winner of VH1's "Frank the Entertainer in A Basement Affair."

Poteat and Schwartz each said they'd take the title home on fight night.

"If you want me to fight someone, I can do that [but] look at the size of those gloves. You can't possibly hurt anybody," Poteat said of the oversized gloves used in the matches.

When asked about her competitor, Poteat replied that she was confident she could take her down. "She's a little bit more Hollywood," she added, referencing Schwartz's precise grooming habits: styled hair and matching manicure and pedicure.

Poteat attended the press conference in pants and a blazer, revealing her tattoos, wedge sandals and camouflage-colored purse.

When asked if she has what it takes to win, Schwartz replied, "I'll do all my talking in the ring."

Fighters will take to the ring on Oct. 2 at 8 p.m. the Holiday Inn in Holyoke, 245 Whiting Farms Rd.

For more information or for tickets, call Danny Seidel at 885-3279.