Can Tomasz Adamek Cruise to the Heavyweight Title?
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By Joe Wilson
The fight that was called the “Ring of Fire,” was supposed to produce something big in the heavyweight division.
Was it a hit, or was it a miss?
That question seemed to be on my mind after watching former Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight Champion, Tomasz Adamek’s win over Chris Arreola by majority decision.
The style of both fighters going into this fight was a recipe of disaster.
This fight had all the potential of being the best heavyweight fight so far this year. It has always been said that styles makes fights and for the first three rounds it looked like Arreola would impose his size and strength against the smaller Adamek, possibly getting him out of there early.
Some of us felt that after a few rounds, these two fighters would start to exchange big blows in the center of the ring. To my surprise, Adamek would not let Arreola bait him into that war. He moved in and out all night long. He stayed away from the big punches, but seemed to connect any time he threw any of his own.
Arreola said that he hurt his hand in round five and it was very apparent going into the later rounds that his hand was definitely hurt. I must admit even before he claimed he had hurt his hand, he seemed to be punching very wide. His balance did not look good at all.
Arreola did not look like a professional heavyweight, even when you consider that he had a very good amateur career.
His heart and warrior attitude has never been in question, but his conditioning has always puzzled boxing fans.
Any time a heavyweight fighter with a conditioning problem is going to be a force in this division, he better have a devastating knockout punch.
I just don’t see that in Arreola.
The former 2-Time World Heavyweight Champion “Big” George Foreman did not always show tremendous conditioning during his fights, however, he could hit. Foreman would get his opponents out of there as soon as possible by knockout and his competition were some of the premier heavyweights of his time and of all time.
Chris Arreola’s existence in the heavyweight division is very much in question. The ticket sales for this event was a lot less than expected, even though he fought near his hometown in the Los Angeles area.
This is truly a sign of his stance in the heavyweight division.
I do believe promoter Dan Goossen will have to take a close look at Chris Arreola’s career and decide where to go from there.
Once conditioning and weight continues to pose a major problem for a fighter, he soon finds himself without a promoter. Arreola looked very sloppy going into the later rounds of that fight and it’s not the first time he’s looked that way.
Adamek looked good for a fighter who came in at 217 pounds against his opponent who tipped the scales north of 250 pounds. The size advantage was very noticeable, but Adamek did not let that detour him from his game plan.
He hit and moved all night and pulled off a victory.
This Polish fighter moved up from the smaller weight divisions (light heavyweight and cruiserweight) with only one loss on his record. That loss was against Light Heavyweight Champion, “Bad” Chad Dawson. He has since moved up to the heavyweight division and has done well, winning three straight fights at the 200+ division, improving his record to 41-1, 27 KO’s, while the heavier heavyweight, Arreola falls to 28-2, 25 KO’s.
Even though Tomasz Adamek had to fight on the run most of the night, he still delivered some good punches throughout the fight. One must remember that he is still new to the heavyweight division.
After a few more fights, it’s easy to believe that Adamek could easily pose problems for big names such as WBA Heavyweight Champion David Haye and Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, the two other recognized world heavyweight champions.
He just needs to keep winning.