Adamek decisions Grant, but fails to impress

By Rob Smith: Heavyweight contender Tomasz Adamek (42-1, 27 KO’s) failed to make a case for himself tonight that he’s ready to take on either of the Klitschko brothers, as he struggled badly to beat 38-year-old Michael Grant (46-4, 34 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision at the at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The final judges’ scores were 117-111, 118-110, 118-111. Adamek simply was too small and too weak to make much of an impression on a fighter that he should have been able to wipe out with ease if he were in the same class as the Klitschko brothers.

Obviously Adamek is not in the same class the Ukrainian Klitschko brothers. Adamek did look skillful in the first six rounds against the slower Grant, who threw very few punches during the first half of the fight. Grant started getting to Adamek beginning in the 6th, staggering him with a big right hand causing a cut over his right eye.

Grant only had one weapon working for him – his right hand. His left was virtually useless and his jab was more of a pawing jab that had no effect on Adamek. In the 2nd half of the fight, Adamek began to take more and more punishment, and his face began to look bad from cuts over both eyes. Grant seemed to gain confidence as he was able to find Adamek with his punches more than he had in the first five rounds. In the 12th round, Grant had Adamek hurt from a big right hand but was unable to finish him off because he gassed out.

Adamek clearly won the fight by a narrow margin but not by the ridiculous scores that were handed down by the judges. I had Adamek winning by a round or two. He beat a guy that he needed to be impressive against if he wanted to show the world that he could compete with either of the Klitschkos. Right now, I see Adamek getting knocked out in four or five one-sided rounds by either of the Klitschko brothers. He’s just too small and weak to even be competitive. I also see other heavyweights beating Adamek like Eddie Chambers, Denis Boytsov, David Haye, Alexander Povetkin, Alexander Dimitrenko, Odlanier Solis, Kevin Johnson, Samuel Peter, and a number of others as well. I give Adamek credit for positioning himself to get a title shot, but I think there’s a lot more deserving heavyweights out than him.