What started as a way to stay in shape in high school has become a way of life for one Brooklyn firefighter-turned-prizefighter about to compete at Barclays Center.
Queens resident and Brooklyn life-saver Will Rosinsky will take center ring to compete on the undercard of the middleweight title fight between Daniel Jacobs and Peter Quillin on Dec. 5. It is the largest indoor arena in which the 30-year-old has fought during his career.
“I wanted to be there sooner or later,” said Rosinsky sitting at his gym, Universal Boxing, in his native Ozone Park. “You start from no where and you work your way up to a place like that.”
The Archbishop Molloy grad learned karate as a youngster and first landed at a boxing gym in high school when a friend asked if he would give it a try. Rosinsky took to it and went on to win four New York Golden Gloves championships and a USA Amateur national crown at 178 pounds.
But his career nearly ended there, despite his success.
Rosinsky was studying to be a physical education teacher at Queens College and working as a student-teacher at St. Francis Prep and PS 207 in Queens. His father tried to get him out of the ring, telling him it’s better to teach and take summers off than pursue a career where you get punched in the face day in and day out. After talking with a friend who was in a similar situation, he decided to take a chance at going pro in 2008, planning to take a few fights and see how it went, but the choice became clear quickly, he said.
“I went from, ‘Alright I’ll give it a shot for two or three fights’ to ‘I love it so much I’m going to keep going,’ ” said Rosinsky, who is 19–2–0 with 10 knockouts.
He put teaching aside and now works as a firefighter at Engine Company 234 in Crown Heights — but balancing the gig with part-time pro fighting can be a challenge. His blaze-battling schedule changes from week to week, so he has to work with trainers who can fit his demanding schedule, which can be taxing, he said.
“It is different every week,” he said. “It’s not like I am working a 9 to 5, Monday to Friday.”
But boxing also relieves stress for firefighters, who sometimes work 24-hour-straight shifts, Rosinsky said.
He may spend half his days saving lives, but Rosinsky’s only job when he steps into the ring at Barclays Center is to beat opponent Joe Smith Jr. in the light heavyweight contest. The two are sparring partners, and Rosinsky was apprehensive about fighting someone that he is so familiar with, but eventually the relatively unknown saw an opportunity to raise his stock against a hard puncher who is 19–10 with 16 knockouts.
“If I beat him, it is a much bigger thing,” Rosinsky said. “He has a good record. It is a good win on my resume, so I decided to take it. I am trying to get to that point where people know who I am.”
Rosinsky faced former World Champion Kelly Pavlik in a 2012 Home Box Office bout, but has recently spent his career in smaller arenas like the B.B. King Blues Club, Aviator Sports and Recreation Center, the Theater at Madison Square Garden, and Roseland Ballroom. He didn’t care about status when he first laced up a pair of gloves as a high-schooler, but now that he’s nearing the limelight, he wants to climb as high as he can.
“Once you start winning and then you go to the Golden Gloves, you get successful there, now there is a next step you are looking forward to doing and it is the right step,” Rosinsky said. “I followed that path.”
