Adamek overcomes adversity to win decision
Written By: Armando Paz
If you look the final judges score cards of 117-111, 118-110, and 118-111 than it would seem that Tomasz Adamek (42-1 27 KO’s) won an easy decision over Michael Grant (46-4 34 KO’s) at the Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey. But those scores are only on paper and fail to recreate the fact that it was at times a life and death struggle for Adamek to pull out the victory. There were several instances in the fight where Adamek was hurt and had to clinch, and he also to fight a good portion of the second half of the fight with cuts in both eyes; which thankfully became less of a liability due to the great work of his corner’s cutman.
Adamek started the fight quite well. I had him winning 4 of the first 5 rounds, and the judges likely gave him the first 5 rounds. Grant really had trouble with the speed, footwork, and angles Adamek presented. The former Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight champion would often slip and duck Gran’ts jab while countering with overhand rights. He also would find Grant with jabs to the body and short hooks while he moved around the small ring. Adamek would also land a few pitty pat combinations inside. The first taste of adversity came when Grant did land a flush right hook on Adamek’s chin which Adamek took well. Round 4 was possibly the only early one that might have gone to Grant due to the lack of activity by Adamek who seem to be more interested in countering than dominating the action. In Round 5, we will see Adamek to take control again with superior hand speed and landing some solid straight right hands. He also showed great dexterity by escaping the ropes without much damage when Grant pressed the action.
The turning point of the fight came toward the end of Round 6. Adamek was taking control with his double jab and beating Grant to the punch than holding and clinching to avoid any return fire. But toward the ending stages of the round it would be Grant who landed a powerful right hook and left hook combination that would buckle the knees of Adamek. Adamek was fortunate it happened in the remaning seconds of the round and managed to escape. But he had a cut eye and would be less active in Rounds 7-9, all three rounds that i felt Grant won. Grant didn’t press the action as much to see how badly Adamek was hurt beginning in Round 7. Grant essentially was stalking with the jab and than picking his spots to go for his power shots. Adamek was more on his bike and than trying to land pitty pat combinations. Both of Adamek’s eyes would be cut starting in Round 9, so he likely was more careful in throwing punches fearing he wouldn’t be able to see the counters.
With a sense of urgency Adamek came back to win Rounds 10 and 11 by doubling on the jab and landing pitty patt combinations with more frequency. The final scare for Adamek and the large polish contingency watching in the arena came in Round 12. Grant searching for a knockout did have Adamek in trouble. Grant landed solid combinations and had Adamek hurt in the ropes. The tenacious Adamek clinched when needed and was able to survive the final assault. A good portion of the audience held a collective breath as Grant came close to finding that illusive knockout, but i don’t think it was as dominating of a round to score it 10-8.
My final score was 6-5-1 for Adamek which is 115-114, and much closer than the judges had it. It is preposterous to think that Grant won only two rounds as how it was scored by two of the three judges.
The question is Adamek ready to fight a Klitschko? I think there is a good possibility that either Klitshcko would knockout Adamek. He has a solid chin but has been on occassions hurt by both Grant and Arreola. The accuracy and power of either Klitschko can result in Adamek getting knocked out by Vitali or Wladimir. What may help Adamek is that Vitali has been slowing a bit and is more economical with his punches, and this may give Adamek’s handspeed and footwork the opportunity to steal some rounds. It is possible that Adamek’s handlers may try to avoid a Klitshcko and hope that the 39 year old Vitali may wait next year for a match as Adamek tries to get another tune up or even try to land a match with WBA Champion David Haye.
There is saying in all sports “you can look vulnerable or bad in one day but look great the next time”, this is the positive side for Tomasz Adamek. A win is still a win, and at 42-1, he is still more on the upside than the downside of his career.
