By James Slater – Tomasz Adamek, the man many people feel can add a portion of the heavyweight crown to the light-heavyweight and cruiserweight belts he has already won, is closing in on a shot at either one of the Klitschko brothers or David Haye. Yet for the time being, the crowd-pleasing 33-year-old from Poland is keen to further test himself against heavyweight opposition. Enter fellow crowd-pleaser and all-round tough guy Vinny Maddalone..
According to the man with all the breaking news, Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, Adamek, 42-1(27), fresh off his tougher than expected points win over “Big” Michael Grant, will rumble with the Queens, New York warrior in his next fight.
Rafael reports that promoters Kathy Duva (Adamek) and Joe DeGuardia (Maddalone) have a deal fore the fight, with Maddalone “raring to go,” but that the date and venue have still to be set. November 4th, at The Boardwalk in A.C is one possibility, while December 9th at The Prudential Centre in New Jersey and November 20th in Atlantic City are also in the frame. Either way, the potentially exciting battle will go out on pay-per-view.
You can bet your life Maddalone, 33-6(24) is raring to go for this one! Always a fighter who looks to take the biggest opportunities offered to him, the 37-year-old has never turned down a challenge. And what a challenge this fight will be for Maddalone. Back a month or so ago, when I met Vinny, he told me he would definitely be fighting again before the end of the year, and he was hoping for a big fight. I’ll wager he never thought he’d get a fight this big! Can Maddalone rise to the challenge, though?
Adamek, even though he did struggle somewhat against Grant last time out, is on a real roll right now. 4-0(1) as a heavyweight, with wins over Andrew Golota, Jason Estrada, Chris Arreola and Grant to his name, “Goral” has proven he can defeat different fighting styles. Big-hitters Arreola and Grant failed to stop him, and slick boxer Estrada, who lost a very close decision, failed to comprehensively out-box him. What can Maddalone do to get the win?
We all know the gutsy New Yorker can bang with either hand, and we all know Maddalone fights one way – aggressively. Maddalone always looks to put the heat on his opponent, and this will not change in the fight with the smaller Adamek. But if the teak-tough Pole was able to take Arreola’s shots, shouldn’t he be able to take Maddalone’s?
Make no mistake, Vinny will enter this fight as the underdog (a role he is used to), but he will be there for all 12-rounds (barring facial injuries and cuts, Maddalone’s two biggest weaknesses). Adamek is not the hardest guy in the world to hit, and he did tire at times against Grant. Maddalone will have his chances in this fight.
Can Adamek stop his second heavyweight opponent, succeeding where fellow cruiserweight-cum-heavyweight Jean Marc Mormeck failed (back in Nov. of last year in France)? Or will Maddalone once again make it to the final bell in a hard-fought affair? This fight can’t help but be a crowd-pleaser!