BART PALASZEWSKI LOOKS TO REBOUND

By Mick Hammond

After the first two seasons of the IFL one thing was clear, the Quad Cities Silverbacks under the coaching of Pat Miletich were the team to beat. Going undefeated through five team battles, the Silverbacks won back-to-back IFL Championships.

One of the main reasons for the team’s success was lightweight Bart “Bartimus” Palaszewski, who fought hard and won all five of his individual fights and established himself as one of the league’s breakout stars.

So when Palaszewski and the Silverbacks headed into the 2007 IFL season against the Los Angeles Anacondas in February it appeared that a three-peat could be a definite possibility, but things didn’t go the way the team had anticipated.

Not only did Bart lose his fight, a three-round controversial split-decision to youngster Chris Horodecki, but also the Silverbacks fell 2-3 to the Anacondas. For the first time they found themselves on the outside looking in at the IFL’s World Team Tournament bracket.

But such is life; both Palaszewski and the Silverbacks have an opportunity to get back on the winning track this weekend in Moline, Illinois against the Ken Shamrock-coached Reno Lions.

“We’re really not changing much,” replied Bart when asked if the Silverbacks had any alterations to their routine after suffering their first ever loss. “We’re still training a lot.”

He continued, “Nothing’s changing other than maybe we’re training a little harder now. Pat’s really cracking the whip on us right now.”

Not only do the Silverbacks want to get back to prominence, but Bart also wants to get back to the winning ways that saw him go undefeated in the first two seasons of IFL action.

“The fight went really the way I wanted, and in my eyes and many peoples’ eyes I won the fight,” said Palaszewski of his loss to Chris Horodecki in February. “I just kind of got ripped off pretty much, that’s what it comes down to.”

“I thought he was going to stand with me, he obviously didn’t, and he didn’t want to stand with me after he got clipped. He’s supposed to be a stand-up guy and [just] ended up taking me down, that’s all,” added Bart.

The reason why Palaszewski feels that fighters in the promotion, even those with striking pedigrees, refuse to stand and trade with him is simple.

“I think I’ve got the heaviest hands in the lightweight division of the IFL,” stated Bart. “Nobody wants to stand with me; everybody’s trying to take me down.”

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