by James Slater – Seen by many as the best of the current heavyweight contenders, Polish tough guy Tomasz Adamek takes his next step in the division tonight, as he takes on the huge Michael Grant in what will be “Goral’s” fourth fight up against the big guys. And what a “Big” guy the 33-year-old former light-heavy and cruiserweight champ has chosen to face in 38-year-old Grant!
At yesterday’s official weigh-in, Grant, 46-3(34) tipped in at a solid-looking 261-pounds, and Adamek, 41-1(27) weighed in at a much lighter 217-pounds.. Grant, always a big puncher, also has considerable advantages in height and reach. Can Adamek overcome these three big disadvantages tonight in Newark?
Of course, Adamek has given away plenty of weight to an opponent before; in fact he has done so in each of his three heavyweight wins. Fellow Pole Andrew Golota enjoyed a forty-plus-pounds advantage over Adamek, Jason Estrada came in 17-pounds the heavier man, while Chris Arreola, back in April, had well over 30-pounds on Adamek. Despite this, though, Adamek won all three fights in style.
And just because Grant is heavier, bigger and taller, it doesn’t mean he will spoil Adamek’s heavyweight dream tonight. Still, that long reach – 86″ to just 75″ for the man from Poland – may serve to bother Adamek, and Grant’s left jab could well become a factor in tonight’s rumble. But what are Adamek’s advantages?
Aside from being the younger, hungrier and faster man, Adamek also has a proven chin; while Grant, in his three losses, has been halted each time – albeit against big guys. “Goral” proved in his points win over Arreola four months ago that he is capable of defusing a much bigger man’s attempts at roughing him up, wearing him down and doing a number on him with his greater firepower. I expect Adamek to do pretty much the same thing to Grant tonight.
Grant, knowing this fight is his last chance at the big time, will no doubt come out looking to put some hurt on Adamek and then score the stoppage win. And the man who has 34 KO’s to his name, a good number of them quick ones, will be dangerous early on at least. But with all his recent inactivity (just one fight since 2008) how will Grant’s stamina hold up after all the chasing he’ll have been doing in there? For Adamek, unless he’s foolish, will not stand and trade with Grant; instead he will hit-and-hop-it, looking to both frustrate and tire out Grant.
Adamek took this fight so he could test himself against a massive guy so as to get himself better equipped, experience-wise, for the Klitschko brothers, and he will box smartly tonight. With all the work he’s done in getting himself up there as the second most talked-about challenger for either of the two brothers (a certain Mr. Haye is clearly the #1 talked-about potential rival for either “Doctor!”) Adamek will not mess things up against an ageing former title challenger – even one with such a long reach and numbing power to go right along with it.
Adamek will either win clearly on points or he may get himself a late stoppage. Either way, the Polish warrior will keep his heavyweight dream alive in around 12 hours’ time.