Tomasz Adamek: Preparing for the Klitschkos by Facing Kevin McBride?
By Damien Norman
34 year old Pole Tomasz Adamek aims to prepare for the potential Wladimir Klitschko bout by taking on the Irish “Colossus” Kevin McBride on the 23rd of April in Newark, New Jersey.
Adamek, who has only been defeated once in his long 43 fight career has been assured by the younger of the two Klits’ that he is very much on his radar once the Dereck Chisora task is out of the way but is Kevin McBride really the correct opponent for him as a warm up fight?
Most of you will know McBride for one reason and one reason only; he is the last (and one of only 6 men) to defeat the great Mike Tyson. On paper this sounds fantastic but the reality is it is far from that. When the former British Heavyweight sensation Danny Williams went to America in 2004 and stunned the World by knocking out “Iron Mike” it was obvious and openly admitted that Tyson was a shadow of his former self.
Although this tainted the defeat and halted Mike Tyson’s comeback (and he only made the comeback for financial reasons) Williams had to take some great shots from Tyson and looked very good in the fight, catching Tyson with some beautiful shots. That was in 2004, and at that point the World (and Tyson himself) was aware that he was well and truly finished. He didn’t train for the fight, he wasn’t prepared and as I mention above only took the fight for money so when he boxed on and fought Kevin McBride in 2005 the outcome was pretty much inevitable.
It wasn’t a great performance from McBride, he didn’t really dazzle the crowd and to be truthful was in terrible physical shape so although it is and will ever remain a remarkable name on his record and something to of course be proud of and tell the grandchildren, it is unfortunately little more than that.
So what can Adamek expect in April from his opponent and why take on the dreadfully out of shape finished 37 year old? I have to say the announcement of this fight somewhat bemused me.
Last year Kevin McBride entered the popular British Prizefighter series; the big selling point of course being he was “the last man to defeat Mike Tyson.” A lot of people were unaware of McBride prior to the tournament so hearing about the Tyson victory had the masses excited in anticipation; the reality was that he was largely out of shape and 6 years older and to be brutally honest not the most talented either. He does though stand at a massive 6’6 in height which was interesting to say the least. He defeated Franklin Egobi by decision to progress to the next stage but then (and perhaps very unluckily) lost out to Matt Skelton on points in the next round.
McBride looked heavily fatigued from start to finish in both fights and relied on his mountain like physique to gain many moments of rest throughout the rounds. Both displays were poor and it was quite a mundane spectacle.
McBride is clearly at the end of his mediocre career and has not fought since the Prizefighter event. On paper McBride sounds like an ideal opponent. Being as tall as he is likens him to Wladimir Klitschko and if he was to somehow land a bomb it could be lights out but I can tell you there is a very slim chance of this happening given the quality of Tomasz Adamek so this is set to be a very, very easy night for the Polish sensation.
Adamek is now 34 years of age and has been involved in some great fights. He has worked his way up the weights and has recently defeated the likes of Steve Cunningham, Andrew Golota and last year the ever solid Chris Arreola.
Although height would be a huge disadvantage against the World number 1 Wladimir Klitschko he would definitely go there looking to fight and take it to him unlike many of Wladimir’s recent opponents. Would he have enough to win or even knock out Klitschko though? I was hoping that this announced fight for April would be against a World class operator, obviously not of the quality of a Klitschko (but then there aren’t too many of that standard anyway, right!?) but somebody who has Boxed at World level, who is going to take the fight to Adamek and is physically in a respectable shape. I believe the result of the April clash with McBride is inevitable and Adamek is getting absolutely nothing from this clash making it a pointless outing.
He has to win big, probably by a massive knock out to put some kind of justification on this bout but then he is very much expected to do this anyway. For McBride however, it is another (and possibly a final) decent pay day against a big name. There is a miniscule possibility that McBride will train hard for this fight, get into some form of shape and come in much fitter than anticipated knowing he will never get to Box an opponent of this caliber again and it has to be his last time in the spotlight. Even if he does this though, I am really struggling to find a case for him winning a single round let alone the fight however he is a big guy and as a Heavyweight you always have that punch, right? You can expect him to try and spoil the fight in what little chance he has, getting close to Adamek and frustrating him however an operator with the skills and power of Adamek should have little difficulty in avoiding this happening.
Whilst Adamek entertains McBride Wladimir Klitschko is working extremely hard for his brawl with UK’s egotistical superstar Dereck Chisora which is also in April at the SAP Arena, Manheim, Germany.
As many of you will be aware this battle was due to set stage back in December until Klitschko picked up an injury a few days before the fight. This was not part of the plan for Klitschko and many feel he was using it as an opportunity to negotiate with David Haye to get that fight back on track however it appears Haye has stalled and Klitschko has been forced by his TV Company to take on Chisora. Klitschko has made this fight seem like a warm up for the Adamek (and/or possibly Haye) clash but I think we all know it is going to be much more than that. Chisora believes this Adamek fight will not even set stage because of what he plans to do to Wladimir… he certainly says the right things!
A dour affair is the anticipation surrounding Tomasz Adamek’s fight with Kevin McBride. The only interesting point will be how Adamek comes in to this fight, his desire and aggression and from that we can look ahead to the Klitschko clash.
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