by James Slater – Polish warrior Tomasz Adamek remained on course for a shot at one of the Klitschko brothers last night. Just. Being forced to work very hard in winning a unanimous decision over the huge Michael Grant, “Goral” took some hurt, was cut around both eyes and had to dig deep to win. Adamek once again showed his heart along with his speed – an advantage he has over most of his fellow big men – but he also showed that he is not yet ready for a fight with either Wladimir or Vitali. Perhaps he never will be..
That said, Adamek, David Haye aside, is the most attractive future opponent for one or both of the two heavyweight kings. Adamek is fearless, he can take a punch and he always enters the ring in top shape. And, as he showed last night against the 6’7,” 261-pound Grant, he can handle a massive guy. Grant, however, is no Klitschko.
Adamek took last night’s fight so as to further prepare himself for his seemingly inevitable fight with a Klitschko. Wanting to face someone as big as they are (even bigger in Grant’s case), Adamek came home with the result he needed – even if he surely never anticipated being wobbled the way he was last night. But imagine if either Doctor” belted him the way Grant did; could Adamek possibly survive? Not only that, but would Adamek, who was unable to hurt Grant, be able to stun either sibling?
A realist, the former light-heavyweight and cruiserweight champ is aware he needs more work against the really big men if he’s to have a good chance against either the Ring magazine, IBF and WBO champ or his WBC counterpart. And Adamek, 42-1(27) says he will get this work done in the coming weeks/months.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” Adamek said post fight. “I’m going to watch this fight and learn from it.”
Ringtv.com, from whom the above quotes came, suggest Adamek, who says he will take a three week break before heading back to the gym to prepare for his next bout, could be back in November, again at The Prudential Centre, NJ – and against the also-huge Lance Whitaker. Like Grant, Whitaker is no way near as formidable as either Klitschko, but if Adamek wants more experience against a guy who stands well over 6’5,” Whitaker, who out-pointed Andrey Fedesov back in June, is an ideal foe.
It seems Adamek is in no immediate hurry to get it on with a Klitschko, and another fight or two may be on the cards first. This isn’t a bad idea. But, as some have asked; how much better is the 33-year-old going to get? In short, will Adamek – as brave, as fit and as tough and as spirited as he is – ever be capable of taking a belt from the Klitschkos?