By James Slater: Now that he has a guaranteed September date with one of the two Klitschko brothers (probably Wladimir), Poland’s Tomasz Adamek has forgotten all about Samuel Peter. At one time, “Goral” looked like facing the former WBC heavyweight champ on April 16th, in an elimination bout with the winner to get a shot at Klitschko. But now, with a September date with one of the two siblings assured, Adamek has opted to take on a much “safer” opponent on April 16th.
The 34-year-old will now face Irish big man Kevin McBride, and the fight, originally set for Poland, will now go ahead in Newark, New Jersey – the site of many of the former 175 and 200-pound champion’s bouts. This news is courtesy of Polish web site thenews.pl.
So, McBride, who is famous for beating up what was left of Mike Tyson the fighter in 2005, will get himself one more big opportunity.. It’s tough to be too hard on Adamek for taking what on paper looks like a safe and easy fight; especially when we bear in mind how he will be going in with either the best or the second best heavyweight on the planet in September! That’s as long as Adamek beats McBride of course.
It would be some momentous upset if the 37-year-old “Clones Colossus” were to derail Adamek and his big plans. Last seen fighting in the Barry Hearn-promoted “Prize Fighter” tournament, McBride, 35-8-1(29) actually did okay. Overweight he might have been at a whopping 287-pounds, but the veteran still managed to reach the quartet finals AND knock down the durable (if faded) Matt Skelton. None of this will help him against the much faster, much hungrier and just plain better Adamek, but at least McBride has been in action recently.
As a final tune-up opponent for Adamek, McBride figures to serve his purpose well enough. He’s big, slow and pretty durable, as such Adamek will likely get some rounds in in which he can practice certain things he plans to try against Klitschko at the end of the summer. It’s unclear how many of Adamek’s fans will be willing to come out to see this one as it happens live, but the fearless Pole certainly does have a huge fan base. Maybe they will pay to see him beat up on McBride for ten rounds or less.
Again, we can’t be hard on Adamek for taking a lesser opponent in his last fight before going for the world title. With so much at stake, Adamek was never going to risk his shot with a rumble with a dangerous slugger like Sam Peter, was he? That would have simply made no sense.
Look for Adamek to further sharpen his tools on April 16th, with a mid-rounds stoppage win preceding his mega-fight with one of the Klitschkos.