Team Adamek Target The Klitchkos, Not Povetkin's Title

By Jake Donovan

Nothing went right for Tomasz Adamek in last year’s challenge against heavyweight titlist Vitali Klitschko. The former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champ was outgunned from the opening bell and lost every round en route to being stopped in the 10th round.

The fight wasn’t completely without its rewards – Adamek fought in front of a massive crowd in his Poland homeland, and collected by far the biggest payday of his career.

Most fighters in his position – 35 years old, overmatched at the very top level – would seek a safer route to laying claim to a heavyweight belt. That is not the case at all with Adamek, as he and his handlers are only interested in becoming THE heavyweight champion.

“Alexander Povetkin is not the champion; the Klitschkos are,” stated trainer Roger Bloodworth, when asked if his fighter would go after a perceived lesser threat for the sake of collecting a belt. “Povetkin is a “regular” champion. I don’t even know what that means.”

What the trainer does know is that all roads continue to run through the Klitschko brothers.

Vitali is recovering from an injury suffered early in his unanimous decision win over Dereck Chisora last month in Germany. Lineal heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko is fresh off of a fourth round knockout of Jean-Marc Mormeck, yet another ex-cruiserweight champ in search of greater glory.

There is time to build up for a fight with either of the two, even with Adamek’s current schedule booked through the summer. The Polish heavyweight returns on March 24, facing Nagy Aguilera at the Aviator Arena in Brooklyn. The bout serves as the televised opener of an NBC Sports Network show topped by the 140 lb title eliminator between Zab Judah and Vernon Paris.

Assuming all goes well in that bout, Main Events plans to bring Adamek back in mid-June, headlining a show in Newark where he has developed a huge following since relocating to New Jersey in 2008.

From there, who knows what the future will hold in store. The hope is to land a bout with either Klitschko, regardless of who else holds a belt at the time. Whether it’s a rematch with Vitali or a fresh challenge against Wladimir, Adamek and his team promise a new and improved version to be made available that evening, having gained a world of knowledge and experience from last year’s debacle.

“It’s part of my life. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” said Adamek (44-2, 28KO) of the devastating loss. “I’m 35 years but still a hungry fighter. I want to show that I can win this fight and get back again to future title fights.”

Beginning March 24 and for all future fights, the heavyweight division can expect a bigger version of Adamek, which his handlers hope will translate into better.

“I’d like for him to be between 225-230 lb,” Bloodworth stated. “At that weight, he’s hitting harder and to me seems quicker. You know the old saying – bigger, stronger, quicker. His body hadn’t responded yet. The rest did him a lot of good. His frame has caught up with his weight class.”

The late growth spurt forever rules out any chance of dropping back down to the divisions in which he was far more successful. Instead, he will simply have to make due with the uniform that presently fits.

“Tomasz can’t make cruiserweight,” Bloodworth pointed out. “Right now he’s walking around between 225-230 and doesn’t want to lose 30 lb. to go back to the cruiserweight division. So we’ll just see what we can do. “

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .