Tomasz Adamek: The Kevin McBride Challenge
By Geno McGahee
In 2005, Mike Tyson faced unknown Irish heavyweight, Kevin McBride. It was a fight that had earlier been rejected due to the non-challenge of McBride, but when Tyson lost to Danny Williams, it made sense. Give him an easy one.
The slow … very slow and plodding McBride would just present a target, a big punching bag that would be easy prey for Iron Mike. Most boxing writers picked a first round stoppage win, but to the surprise of many, McBride won the fight, forcing Tyson to quit on the stool.
After the Tyson victory, McBride would defeat journeyman Byron Polley and hoped to position himself for a title shot, but the reality of McBride the contender would be exposed, when Mike Mollo, a top 30 heavyweight at best, scored an explosive second round knockout.
In an attempt to rebound, McBride would take on an over the hill Andrew Golota, and land his fair share of punches, before being beaten to the floor and stopped in six. It would be a four fight losing streak for the Irish heavyweight, with his only recent victory being over Franklin Egobi, a journeyman, that he eked by via 3 round split decision in the Prizefighter tournament.
The 37 year old heavyweight has run out of chances and this shot against Tomasz Adamek is all or nothing. McBride, 35-8-1, 29 KO’s, will need more than lady luck to overcome the Polish top contender.
For Adamek, 43-1, 28 KO’s, this is a keep busy fight, but it still presents some danger. McBride is a 280 pound heavyweight with a decent punch if he can land it. With the mobility of Adamek, it’s unlikely that he will be able to and the most likely scenario is a beating, leading to the collapse of an Irish mountain of a fighter.
The heavyweight record of Adamek, the former cruiserweight champion, is 5-0, 2 KO’s. He battered top contender Chris Arreola en route to a decision win, out-pointed fringe contender, Jason Estrada, beat two former heavyweight title challengers in Andrew Golota (KO-5) and Michael Grant (UD-12), and most recently beat journeyman, Vinny Maddalone (KO-5). Adamek is on a collision course with WBC Heavyweight Champion, Vitali Klitschko, and it is becoming more and more apparent that Vitali is slowing down. Adamek’s mobility and great poise would suit him well.
McBride’s biggest asset going into this fight is the fact that he is so big. If he can cut off the ring, keep the smaller Adamek on the ropes and just fire away, he could potentially land and hurt him, but if he opts to box from the outside, he will be picked apart, which seems like the most likely scenario.
The bout will be shown on PPV, and will feature an undercard similar to those that you find on the Evander Holyfield recent pay per views. The fights will be competitive but they will not be featuring top fighters or anywhere near top fighters. Rent at your own risk.