By Vitali Shaposhnikov: With Vitali Klitschko (42-2-0) vs. Tomasz Adamek (44-1-0) fight coming up on September 10, 2011 in Wroclaw, Poland, there have been a ton of predictions on what will happen on that night. Most including myself, believe that Vitali will have no trouble beating Tomasz, but what seems to be a question that not too many have asked as of yet, is whether Tomasz is similar to any of Vitali’s pervious competition.
To be honest, I don’t think that Vitali has faced anyone like Adamek for a very long time in terms of ring mobility. Corrie Sanders (42-4-0) in 2004 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw2F3CmgTy8) was the last competitor who would move around the ring and give Klitschko angles and something to chase. Sure Sanders was flat footed, but he did make sure that Vitali had to adjust and readjust himself throughout some the fight.
In the video link posted above, Sanders does get a few decent punches in, despite the fact that he is not an accurate puncher, and neither was he a well seasoned champion. I believe that if Adamek can keep himself in motion and not let Klitschko set up, he will do much better than most predict.
Another thing that Adamek does very well is throwing from all angles. It is not all that unusual to see him fire with a combination consisting of all different punches. With that skill in possession, Adamek is very well known for consistent pressure once he gets his opponent in trouble.
Some as I have noticed are questioning Adamek’s chin at heavyweight. While I am not 100% sold on his ability to take a real hard punch, the Chris Arreola fight demonstrates that he can indeed take hard consistent punches from a natural heavyweight with heavy hands. Arreola did fairly well against Adamek, and that I think is due to his constant pressure and forward motion. Vitali does not go after his opposition in an aggressive fashion; in fact Vitali is a passive fighter, waiting to counter, otherwise hoping to set up a still standing target with a jab. This may give Adamek more opportunities to do what he has developed as a game-plan.
Having said all that, I think Klitschko will dominate this fight due to his long reaching jab, and his ability to adjust in the ring. Despite the fact that Vitali is not a very fluid and natural moving fighter, moving like apiece of machinery in the ring, he has the jolts of offensive attempts, most of which turn out to be accurate and successful.
Essentially, I believe that Vitali will win this fight in a very decisive fashion, but only after he can adjust to Adamek’s new style of fighting. How long with this adjustment take? It might take some time, as I can see Adamek attacking Vitali from the get-go, with Vitali constantly moving back while trying to counter, unsuccessfully. It’s when Adamek stops moving, the fight turns to a one sided beat down by Klitschko.