By Jake Donovan

Kathy Duva is not the type of person to respond too kindly to the word ‘no.’ Sadly, it’s a reality she’s forced to live with in boxing.

At least until she doesn’t.

The New Jersey-based promoter has hit the ground running from the moment NBC Sports Network said ‘yes’ to her pitch for a new fight series. Obstacles were overcome in the ‘Fight Night’ series premiere, while a career was resurrected in the latest installment last month.

On June 16, the series develops what most other networks struggle to piece together – a compelling heavyweight match.

Duva promised in the lead in to Zab Judah’s recent knockout win over Vernon Paris that Tomasz Adamek – who appeared in the show’s co-feature – will headline the June 16 edition of the series in a fight against a “Top 10 type of opponent.”

The news of Eddie Chambers landing the assignment allowed Duva to make good on her word.

“It’s a tremendous fight,” Duva believes. “It’s the type of fight that is interesting to fans, which is of course the type of fights we want to keep doing. We did it in the first two shows and we have another one in June with this one.”

According to the current schedule, the June 16 show will mark the fourth ‘Fight Night’ episode, as the next card is slated for June 1 in Bethlehem, PA. The pre-Fathers Day show headlined by Adamek will land in the Polish star’s home away from home, as he and Chambers square off at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Duva’s vision when presenting this series to NBC Sports was to offer compelling fights – not just the main event but the entire televised card – in real cities in front of rabid crowds. Each show needs to tell a story, which is tough when the backdrop is a stale casino crowd or an empty hotel ballroom.

The network agreed to the premise. Soon thereafter, Main Events and its partners have worked feverishly to make good on that promise all while contending with a modest budget and conflicts from premium networks going head-to-head with their televised dates.

Judah’s career-resurrecting win over Paris faced televised competition from HBO’s coverage of a live doubleheader from Texas. Adamek’s first headlining act in 2012 will go against the exclusive replay of the pay-per-view clash between Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley, which is paired up with live coverage of a middleweight title fight between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andy Lee.

All parties involved in the latest ‘Fight Night’ episode were pleased with the ratings posted from the March 24 show. The tripleheader provided the best action of the night among all of the shows that appeared in English and Spanish-speaking networks that evening.

In presenting Adamek-Chambers on its scheduled date, Main Events and NBC Sports will look for lightning to strike twice.

“I was pretty happy with the buzz and of course the ratings,” Duva said of last month’s Judah-Paris card in Brooklyn. “The ratings kept climbing as the show went on and of course peaking with Zab. It made sense since we picked up viewers from the NCAA college basketball tournament. Also, our main event went on just as HBO’s show ended.

“We’re going up against HBO again in June. We had the date originally but so be it. Our ratings for this show were higher than they were for the first. We’re confident the trend will continue.”

In addition to seeking big ratings, Main Events also anticipates its largest live gate yet for a show on this series. Adamek is a considerable draw at the Prudential Center and the event handlers plan to pull out all of the stops for a show topped by a fight that will have major implications at the heavyweight title contention level.

“We hope to have 10,000 people and plenty of room for the press,” quips Duva, who was forced to contend with the limited space provided by the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn for Judah’s homecoming. “It’s going to be a party - a strong undercard and a great night of entertainment.”

What the show will also serve as the continued gratitude exuded by a company who refuses to settle for whatever the industry is willing to offer.

“I’m so grateful that NBC gave us the chance. I’ve been saying for years that we can do this but nobody gave the chance,” Duva remarks. “NBC gave us a tremendous amount of trust. We need to repay that with every show we do. There are guys out there who want to be in competitive fights. That’s what this series delivers. It’s simple yet it works.”

As a result, Duva and partners work overtime to deliver on each effort, keeping her vision intact with each installment.

“I’ve never loved this job more than I do right now.”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter:@JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com