What did Rough N Rowdy bring to Providence on Friday? Just your typical organized chaos
PROVIDENCE — The event was surreal.
It had first-time fighters stepping into the ring blindly throwing haymakers, praying one would hit someone who was built for lying on the couch; it had fighters desperately gasping for air that had escaped them; it had Adam “Pacman” Jones hearing boos from more than 7,000 people as he came out to fight an opponent who looked like an extra in "The Departed."
At Rough N Rowdy, this all felt normal.
Barstool Sports brought its boxing event back to Providence for the first time since 2019. The last time Rough N Rowdy was in Rhode Island, it was a disorganized mess that still entertained the masses at the Convention Center. While the event might have been a little more dressed up on Friday, its brand of organized chaos lived up to expectations.
“Once you get here, you feel the environment when you see it like this,” said Robbie Fox, Barstool’s combat expert who called the fight alongside founder Dave Portnoy and Dan "Big Cat" Katz. “My ears are ringing right now because the crowd was so crazy and that’s what you notice.
“It’s chaos. This was the perfect representation of what Rough N Rowdy is.”
“It was way bigger,” Katz said. “This was incredible being in it. Providence just packs the place for us.”
The Amica Mutual Pavilion wasn’t packed to the gills, but even with the upper ring empty, the crowd was still larger than the Convention Center crowd three years ago. Multiple Barstool employees said this was the largest arena Rough N Rowdy had been held at, but Portnoy wasn’t surprised at the crowd.
“It was great,” he said as he tried to get the airport to fly to Philadelphia to do Barstool’s college football show on Saturday morning. “But we’re from here.”
Providence was the Stoolie capital of the world on Friday night. The Massachusetts-born brand has an intense following in New England and you could hear it in the crowd’s reaction. A fighter from outside of New England stood no chance. There were boos — lots of them.
The cheers were reserved for the hometown fighters. Will Trucks, a Hope High School graduate, opened the night with some explosive lefts and rights that set a tone for the evening. For Trucks, it was nothing like he had felt before.
“You get that stage fright right where your heart drops,” said Trucks, who had never been in a sanctioned fight before Friday. “I’ve never been on stage at this high a caliber so I was like, 'All right, let me suck it up and make the most of it and go.' ”
Damani Burns also made the most of his boxing debut. Following a win by East Providence’s Joey “Thiccuation” Medeiros, the former Johnson and Wales wrestler got in the ring and hardly looked like a novice in his bout against Joaquin Jiminez. Burns landed rights with precision and, compared to the previous two fights, looked like Floyd Mayweather with his footwork. He celebrated his knockout with a backflip as Jiminez lay dazed on the mat wondering what just happened.
“The guy said he was going to drag his [expletive] across my face,” Burns said. “So I was all good with that.”
Casey O’Connor was ready for Friday night. A former wrestler at Cranston West, O'Connor made his debut at the previous installment in Providence and went on the Rough N Rowdy circuit before taking a break. With the show back in town, O’Connor — nicknamed "Smidge" — trained properly for his bout with Robert Waters.
“I’m scared no matter the opponent. The only difference was this time I trained,” O’Connor said. “I totally saw the difference in the quality of my fight and with the cardio. I can definitely say this was a way better fight.”
O’Connor’s fight was billed as the Dwarf World Championship, one of several battles heavily promoted by Barstool to attract an audience and viewers for the pay-per-view event. There was a fight between female little people, with Bobbie Jo Tovey and Mercedes Lynn in a bout that was more of a sideshow than an actual fight.
Several social media influencers also took to the ring. Someone named Suzy Antonyan was absolutely rocked by Sara Farrugia. Jalel Abdullah was booed by every single person in the arena when he tapped out after two rounds against Vance Randolph.
Barstool employee Grace "The Mick" O’Malley fought Parker "The Cajun Punisher" Gwaltney. In the days leading up to the fight, O’Malley said the toughest part was going two months without drinking as part of her training.
After beating Gwaltney, O’Malley ended that streak by chugging an Angry Orchard before heading backstage.
The theatrics weren’t limited to the ring. Rough N Rowdy has a “Ring Girl Competition,” where one of the night’s ring girls is given prizes based on crowd reaction. They spent their evening being helped in and out of the ring by local Marines and were all seated near someone dressed from head to toe in a mirrored costume.
Fans ate it up like Portnoy did at Twin’s Pizza in North Providence earlier in the afternoon.
While the masses drank Bud Light and other forms of booze like they needed them to survive, the crowd was there for fun and not any extracurriculars. Friday night had powderkeg potential but if there were any issues in the crowd, they were handled before anyone could notice.
Fair or not, Barstool’s fans have earned a certain reputation but it was clear they were there to watch the fights, not take part in them. The arena exploded when Daniel "Diamond Hands" Amesbury gave Rough N Rowdy regular Zach Abel the old one-two and knocked him clean out.
The arena booed loudly when former NFL defensive back "Pacman" Jones walked out and treated the victorious Bobby Laing like Gillette Stadium used to treat Tom Brady.
When North Providence’s Vicky D’Errico entered the ring, she walked in with the crowd's support. Her match with Heather "One Shot" McDonald was the best match of the night from a technique standpoint and you could feel the crowd bobbing and weaving along with D’Errico, who dodged punches in a way she didn’t when she made her Rough N Rowdy debut three years ago. D’Errico didn’t get a knockout, but she did get a win and was showered with cheers.
Providence appreciated the fight as much as it appreciated the first-timers, the sideshows, the little people, the fat guys and everyone else who took part in the fun.
“We’ll be back,” Katz said. “We love coming to Providence. It’s been three years and, hopefully, it’s not three years until the next one.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Barstool Sports' Rough N Rowdy is perfect blend of boxing and chaos
