WHO GETS THE TITLE SHOT FIRST AS ADAMEK DEFEATS GRANT
By Michael Amakor | Photos By Mike Greenhill | August 25, 2010
Listen to the Decision and Post fight Commentary
Poland’s Tomacz Adamek 42-1 (27 KOs) the IBF International and WBO North American Boxing Organization heavyweight champion defended his titles against the lack lustre challenge posed by the lumbering six foot seven two hundred and sixty one pound Michael “Big” Grant in front of his enthusiastic compatriots at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on August 21.
“I’m not looking to fight anybody under 220 pounds anymore” Grant would later comment light heartedly about his inability to catch Adamek who used constant movement and angles to prevent Grant from getting his feet planted to land one of his fight ending haymakers.
Adamek seized the initiative throughout the fight using quick jabs that snapped Grants head back repeatedly, followed by combinations to the body to keep Grant off balance before retreating just an inch beyond Grants power ranging jab to clear the judges score cards, which read 117-111, 118-110, 118-111 all for Adamek, but it was not without some drama as the both wrestled themselves to the canvas in the first round and a visibly tired Adamek faded down the stretch especially in the final round, but managed to survive using his ring smarts after barely eluding power shots from Grant that did not land flush, unfortunately for Grant he was not able to cut off the ring in time to finish him off Adamek when he had him hurt .
As suspected by most boxing fans pre-fight and as buttressed by only one round being awarded to him by unofficial ring side score cards, Grant was seen as being served up as a tune-up for the more active former Cruiserweight champion to showcase his skills against a big and tall heavyweight and inch him one step closer towards a title shot against either one of the power punching championship duo of Wladimir and Vitali Klitchko who both are over six foot five inches and are the reigning IBF and WBC champions respectively.
For Grant whose record fell to 46-4 (34 KOs) the future seems less certain, but his loss to Grant was by no means a poor performance, and to his credit he made it to the twelfth round for the second time in his career after only one previous fight in the past two years showing that with more dedication he might regain the form that allowed him pile 34 knockouts in his career.
“You’ve not seen the last of me, I will definitely fight for the title” promised Grant during the post fight press conference, and given his performance against Adamek one of the reigning champions may decide that Grant is an easier target for a title defense in a fight that may be more easily promoted given Grants competitive size. “Don’t be surprised if the Klitchko’s bypass Adamek and fight Grant instead” someone said during the post fight press buzz, and many people nodded in agreement – stranger things have been known to happen in boxing.
Stay Tuned.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
