Newark, NJ– Thousands of fight fans packed the house to the rafters on Saturday Night and created a ruckus atmosphere while witnessing Poland’s Tomasz Adamek (42-1, 27 KOs) in his biggest test to date against 6’7 former heavyweight title challenger Michael Grant (46-4, 34 KOs) at the Prudential Center.
WAS THE BOUT AS HYPED AS THE CROWD?
No, but if you ever had the privilege to witness an event at “The Rock” where Adamek is adored by his legion of fans, you’d be hard pressed to find anything to live up to that type of electricity. Nonetheless, the fight was a bit more compelling then most experts, including myself, thought it would be.
BREAKDOWN OF THE SCRAP
After a “feel out” first two minuets, a fight broke out and Grant landed a crisp right on Adamek’s chin which seemed to cause some difficultly for the house favorite. Over the next few rounds of “phony” warfare, Adamek settled into a boxing posture, and oddly enough, as the shorter man, Tomasz began to have his way with the much taller Grant from the outside. In round six, Grant was able to shake Adamek once again with a sharp right that opened up a cut over his right eye, but again, Michael’s onslaught came toward the end of the round and was to no avail. Over the next few frames, Grant loosened up and delivered descent combination’s in attempt to rise to the occasion, but a stubbornly resistant Adamek stuck to his boxing, used lateral movement to evade such tactics, and regained control of the ring. Both fighters appeared gassed going into the 12 stanza, but credit goes to Grant as he came out like “a house on fire” in effort to burn Adamek to the ground. Though a credible notion, it wasn’t to be. The scrap went to the score cards which read 117-111, 118-110, 118-111, all for Adamek. I had the bout 1116-112, Adamek.
POST MORTEM
During the press conference, a very humorous Michael Grant explained to the public that it was very difficult for him to break down his shorter opponent due to the mobility that Adamek displayed throughout the bout. After fielding a few pertinent questions, Granted offered that he has no intent on hangin’ up the gloves. Thereafter, a seemingly physically drained Tomasz Adamek approached the podium. Tomasz stated that Grant was the biggest puncher he had ever faced, and that he had prepared for 12 taxing rounds to earn a victory and was happy with his performance. Based on needed time to recover from injuries he suffered to both eyes, Adamek was reluctant to disclose any information in regard to his next contest.
MY THOUGHTS
This was a surprisingly entertaining affair. In a war of attrition, the 38 year old Michael Grant was able to sustain a measured pace of attack in attempt to break his man down. Also, Grant was able to administer shots a whole lot better then he was able to in previous battles, and showcased a bit more grit then we’re used to seeing from him. Having said that, I was impressed at how well Adamek fought a much larger man from the outside. Tomasz peppered Grant with jabs which kept him off balance and at bay while using foot movement that was in concert with solid hand combinations. Does this mean Adamek has the tools to blast out a Klitschko? No. A viable concern for Tomasz is that he couldn’t knock out a guy that has been known to be knocked out simply by just looking at him. In other words, Grant has no chin, and perhaps Adamek has no punch either. Sure, you can make the argument that one of the Klitschko’s chin is suspect and that Adamek can possible get to it, but you got to have somewhat of a crack at the end of the whip to tame a bull.
UNDER CARD DELIVERED SOME HURT
Jr. middleweight (154) Joel Julio (36-4, 31 KOs) bounced back from his loss to Alfredo Angulo with a commanding ten round unanimous decision over Jamaal Davis (12-7, 6 KOs). Scores were 97-93, 98-92, 99-93.
Former Olympian welterweight (147) Sadam Ali (9-0, 5 KOs) blasted out journeyman Lenin Arroyo (20-13-1, 4 KOs) with a pulverizing body shot in round five.
Five-time New York Golden Gloves champ, jr. lightweight (130) Shemuel Pagan (1-0) picked up a win in his pro debut against Raul Rivera (0-3), Scores read 40-35, 40-34, 40-34.
Jr. lightweight Osnel Charles (4-2) and Hector Collado (0-2-1) fought to a close controversial decision 38-37, 38-37, 39-37, in favor of Charles.
In a pro debut for both men, jr. lightweight Tyrone Luckey (1-0, 1 KO) destroyed Larry Yanez (0-1) in 54 seconds of round 1.
John Signorella