Fightwrighter Preview:- Klitschko - Adamek

[Wheelchair]

For some reason, when I think about Vitali Klitschko’s heavyweight title defence against Tomasz Adamek I think back to an all-British fight that took place many years ago involving the light-heavyweight Freddie Mills against heavyweight Bruce Woodcock.

 

Mills, who won a world title, was similar to Adamek in that he had a big heart and great fighting spirit. Giving away 20 pounds in weight, Mills fought courageously and did damage, but he was worn down by the bigger Woodcock and knocked out in the 14th round. “Weight and reach told against Mills all the time,” The Times reported.

 

Weight and reach: Those words resonate across the years. Woodcock and Mills fought in 1949 and we no longer have 15-round fights, but I see a similar sort of outcome in Poland on Saturday, with the bigger man finally overcoming the smaller one.

 

Adamek is an accomplished boxer, he is tough and smart, and he will put up a performance that will make his Polish fans proud of him, but the size difference looks too much. Klitschko is almost six inches taller than Adamek and some 30 pounds heavier. These are huge physical advantages.

 

Adamek has won world titles at light-heavy and cruiserweight, and he has been boxing as a heavyweight for two years so he has had time to adjust to the division. He has beaten much bigger men than himself in Michael Grant and Kevin McBride, in fights that were intended to give him experience against boxers who towered over him and greatly outweighed him. Unfortunately for Adamek, though, Klitschko is on a different level to any heavyweight he has fought.

 

Adamek’s best performance as a heavyweight came when he outpointed Chris Arreola in a slight upset. Adamek was too clever and too quick for a blubbery Arreola, but this was a tough, gruelling fight for him. In contrast, Klitschko outclassed Arreola and was hitting him at will for most of the 10 rounds the mismatch lasted.

 

Different fighters make for different fights, but the respective performances of Klitschko and Adamek against Arreola indicate the uphill battle that Adamek will face in Saturday’s big fight, which will be televised on Sky Sports in the U.K. and HBO in the U.S.

 

Although Klitschko is 40 he is well preserved, having taken four years out of the ring to allow an assortment of injuries to heal. There is grey in Klitschko’s hair but he fights like a young man, with a high punch-output. He has hardly lost a round since returning to the ring three years ago.

 

Adamek is a bit quicker and more mobile, and it is possible that he will be able to slip inside and score with jabs and combinations — and every time Adamek hits the target there will be a thunderous roar from the 40,000 crowd.

 

Yet if Adamek couldn’t budge Grant and McBride, it is difficult to see how his punches are going to have very much effect on Klitschko, who is considered much the more durable of the brothers who dominate heavyweight boxing — and while Wladimir probably has the better one-punch power, Vitali has a way of wearing down his opponents with an accumulation of punches.

 

Adamek has shown that he can be elusive, but he hasn’t fought a heavyweight with Klitschko’s cool competence. The Polish fighter could dodge many of Arreola’s rather clumsy swings and hooks, Grant waited too long — as if not sure of himself — and the glacially slow McBride was never going to be a problem for Adamek. Klitschko, though, has an excellent jab that he uses to control distance, and he is accurate with the right hand. When an opponent slows down, Klitschko puts punches together expertly. It won’t be easy for Klitschko to get off with combinations against the speedier Adamek, certainly not in the early rounds, but if the big Ukrainian boxer can start to land the jab and the right hand with consistency he can pave the way for a barrage of punches.

 

The Polish fans should get a great run for their money, though, whether or not Adamek wins. I’m seeing a long fight here. Eight of Klitschko’s last nine fights have lasted eight rounds or longer, and the one-round win over Odlanier Solis was a bit of a fluke because the Cuban heavyweight suffered a freak knee injury — Solis’s right leg seemed to give way even before he hit the canvas from what was really no more than a cuffing right hand.

 

Klitschko is usually content to keep an opponent on the end of his punches and do a systematic breaking-down job, and Adamek has the mental and physical toughness, the savvy and the boxing skills to make this a long fight for Klitschko, and to give him problems to solve. The question is, though, how long Adamek will be able to keep fighting a perfect fight in which he is hitting and not getting hit.

 

Arreola had Adamek under pressure in the middle rounds, and Grant hurt him twice, once late in the sixth round — when I thought that Adamek was almost ready to go — and again in the last round. I don’t think it is too much of a reach to say that Adamek was saved by the bell in the sixth round against Grant, and although Adamek won almost every round he was looking a bit beaten up at the finish. That was against Grant, who, to me, seemed to be lacking in confidence for much of the fight although trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad patiently urged him: “Just let your hands go!” If Grant, for all his uncertainty, could hurt Adamek, then the far more formidable Klitschko is likely to be able to so, too.

 

I think we could see Adamek in front on points as the fight approaches the halfway stage but I think that Klitschko is eventually going to start timing him for right hands, and for all his guts and boxing ability I believe that the smaller man is going to find himself overwhelmed and bludgeoned to defeat at some point in the last four rounds.

 

http://www.fightwriter.com/vitali-klitschko-vs-tomasz-adamek

[gavpowell]

I'm standing by Adamek losing a wide UD.

[SeelowHeights]

Not sure Adamek will be up at halfway - is he really going to win four of the first six? First three to be competitive then it goes downhill for the Polish crowd after that. I'd favour a late Klitschko KO over a Klitschko UD, but those are by far the most likely two outcomes.

[irondave85]

Vitali in about eight or nine rounds. Adamek is a warrior and will no doubt do himself proud, but he just doesn't have anything in his arsenal to seriously bother big V.

[Ton]

I've taken 7/1 for an Adamek win on points. Plodding Vitali will chase all night and get picked off. (I hope ;-) )

[gavpowell]

I've taken 7/1 for an Adamek win on points. Plodding Vitali will chase all night and get picked off. (I hope ;-) )

 

When has Adamek ever beena hit-and-run merchant? Every time I've seen him he comes forward in straight lines throwing!

[Ton]

Yup, but that would be stupid against a Klitschko. I'm thinking he and/or his team would avoid any such tactics. We'll have to see. I like to throw a bet on things to make them more interesting, I expect Vitali to win this fight, but I liked those odds.

[Skav]

This is the last potentially competitive and potentially exciting fight we can look forward to for some years. I'll be taking in every second of tonight because it will be extremely sad afterward unless Haye can make ammends which I doubt.

[irondave85]

When has Adamek ever beena hit-and-run merchant? Every time I've seen him he comes forward in straight lines throwing!

 

He showed some really good movement against Michael Grant. However, towards the end of the fight, Adamek became a more stationary target and got tagged - and hurt- on more than one occasion.

 

He'll no doubt be on the move against Vitali. Although I just can't see him keeping Klitschko off him for twelve rounds.

[iamasadlittleboy]

This is the last potentially competitive and potentially exciting fight we can look forward to for some years. I'll be taking in every second of tonight because it will be extremely sad afterward unless Haye can make ammends which I doubt.

 

I think your tolling the wrong bell. It's the last potentially competitive heavyweight TITLE fight, there is a lot of good looking fights in the division. Pulev, Helenius, Price, Fury, Povetkin, Dinu, Glazkov, Gerber, Wallisch, Boystov, Wawrzyk, Wach and a few others all look like they could be involved in some good fights with each other.

 

Hopefully though this emerging group do fight each other rather than wait for their turn in a post Klitschko world.

[Skav]

This is the last potentially competitive and potentially exciting fight we can look forward to for some years. I'll be taking in every second of tonight because it will be extremely sad afterward unless Haye can make ammends which I doubt.

 

I think your tolling the wrong bell. It's the last potentially competitive heavyweight TITLE fight, there is a lot of good looking fights in the division. Pulev, Helenius, Price, Fury, Povetkin, Dinu, Glazkov, Gerber, Wallisch, Boystov, Wawrzyk, Wach and a few others all look like they could be involved in some good fights with each other.

 

Hopefully though this emerging group do fight each other rather than wait for their turn in a post Klitschko world.

 

I know the names you mentioned but they don't mean diddly squat for the state of boxing right now. That was more my point.

[iamasadlittleboy]

This is the last potentially competitive and potentially exciting fight we can look forward to for some years. I'll be taking in every second of tonight because it will be extremely sad afterward unless Haye can make ammends which I doubt.

 

I think your tolling the wrong bell. It's the last potentially competitive heavyweight TITLE fight, there is a lot of good looking fights in the division. Pulev, Helenius, Price, Fury, Povetkin, Dinu, Glazkov, Gerber, Wallisch, Boystov, Wawrzyk, Wach and a few others all look like they could be involved in some good fights with each other.

 

Hopefully though this emerging group do fight each other rather than wait for their turn in a post Klitschko world.

 

I know the names you mentioned but they don't mean diddly squat for the state of boxing right now. That was more my point.

 

Doesn't mean they are uncompetitive fights, you don't need to a* fighters to have a competitive battle. The best fights are often the B/C level fighters who are matched or gel well. In fact Pulev v Helenius or Dinu v Wach would be brilliant fights, Price v Fury is one that has a lot of interest behind it too (and would seemingly be on free to air British TV).

 

Meaning diddly squat doesn't mean they can't be great fights and doesn't mean the division, outside of the top 2, is uncompetitive and boring, it's really exciting full of prospects and rising contenders, the only problem is they need to fight each other or we stay in this waiting game of each fighter waiting to get their call.

[davemurphy]

I don't subscribe to the theory that once the Klitschkos move on, we have a better HW Division. It'd be more competitive and certainly more balanced, but who wants to see the current bunch of challengers handing the titles about? What we'd end up with is a crappy division minus the only two guys that currently make it worthwhile. You want junk like Povetkin-Chagaev to ACTUALLY BE a title fight, rather than just in fraudulent name only?

 

Didn't we have this same conversation before Lennox retired, about how the division would be so much better once the Top Dog was removed? A crappy HW Divsion transcends one or two guys and the effect they can have. If they retired, I bet a lot of people here would miss them, there would be nothing by which to judge those that follow.

[Wheelchair]

I don't subscribe to the theory that once the Klitschkos move on, we have a better HW Division. It'd be more competitive and certainly more balanced, but who wants to see the current bunch of challengers handing the titles about?

 

I agree completely. The belts would be all over the place, and the chances of them ever being unified would be very slim indeed.

[iamasadlittleboy]

I don't subscribe to the theory that once the Klitschkos move on, we have a better HW Division. It'd be more competitive and certainly more balanced, but who wants to see the current bunch of challengers handing the titles about?

 

I agree completely. The belts would be all over the place, and the chances of them ever being unified would be very slim indeed.

 

...do we really care abouts belts?...

[iamasadlittleboy]

I don't subscribe to the theory that once the Klitschkos move on, we have a better HW Division. It'd be more competitive and certainly more balanced, but who wants to see the current bunch of challengers handing the titles about? What we'd end up with is a crappy division minus the only two guys that currently make it worthwhile. You want junk like Povetkin-Chagaev to ACTUALLY BE a title fight, rather than just in fraudulent name only?

 

Didn't we have this same conversation before Lennox retired, about how the division would be so much better once the Top Dog was removed? A crappy HW Divsion transcends one or two guys and the effect they can have. If they retired, I bet a lot of people here would miss them, there would be nothing by which to judge those that follow.

 

I don't think we'll have a "better" division just a more competitive and possibly even more exciting division. Fighters won't just be able to "wait their turn" as they do now as they will be scrambling with each other for the title fights/high profile fights. At the moment all the fighters are merely waiting their turn and avoiding any fights they might lose. The two guys that make it worth while are head and shoulders better than everyone else...but everyone else is just lining up to take it in turns to face them and cash the pay day. Briggs, Johnson Haye, Chagaev, Adamek, Arreola, Solis, Chambers etc. Whilst Adamek and Chambers did "deserve" their fights to some degree the Klitschko's haven't had challengers who have really worked their way into a title fight, more picked them from a list.

 

As brilliant as I think both Klitschko's are, they've not had a credibly opponent in a long time (Haye was as credible as Brigg's) because no other heavyweight is willing to take a risk to build themselves as a credible opponent.