By Ryan Songalia (photo by Ed Mulholland/FightWireImages)
 
"Tomasz Adamek, boxer. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster."

Adamek may not be a six million dollar man just yet but his new heavyweight physique is better equipped to pay dividends in the land of the big men. So says fitness and conditioning coach Ralph Mendez, who works with Adamek for his fourth straight fight.
 
The last two – which includes Saturday's fight at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ against former 2004 Olympian Jason Estrada– have taken place at heavyweight. Adamek (39-1, 27 KO), weighed 214 for his first heavyweight contest against Andrew Golota in October.
 
For this bout, Adamek came in at a solid 220.5 pounds. Mendez says none of the weight was put on with traditional weightlifting.

"We do a combination of plyometric and physical strength training," said Mendez, who is working with his first notable pro in Adamek. "I make him wear a weight vest and weights on different parts of his body to avoid straight-up weightlifting. We're trying to keep it cleanly with physical fitness training.

"Everything I make him do, his body just responds to it well."

For Adamek, who just three years earlier was a light-heavyweight champion, the major concern has been maintaining the speed and quickness that would be his natural advantage against hulking 240 pound masses.

"He already has natural power, he has speed. The bigger body is going to give him more power and luckily he's staying quick so his muscle endurance, his overall strength… everything has increased."

Adamek agrees. "I am very quick because this is my natural weight. People are going to be surprised to see that I didn't lose anything since I was 175."

Speed is likely to pay a pivotal role when he goes up against Estrada, who fights out of  Providence, RI. Though "Big Six" Estrada 16-2 (4 KO) lacks a gaudy knockout percentage, his speed, movement and educated left hand is likely to give the Jersey City, NJ resident by way of Zywiec, Poland a serious run.

Adamek says he isn't overlooking the challenge of the former American amateur standout.

"It makes no difference to me who I am fighting, whether he has 1,000 knockouts or none. I am fighting my fight and will do everything I can to beat him."

Should he get through this match, a potential April 24 HBO showdown with Chris Arreola awaits him. Kathy Duva, CEO of Adamek's co-promoter Main Events, confirmed that an offer is on the table from Arreola's promoter Goossen-Tutor Promotions.
 
However. all is contingent upon the outcome of Saturday’s fight.

"First Tomasz has to win his fight on Saturday," said Duva at the final press conference in North Bergen, NJ. "I'm a bit superstitious about looking ahead for a lot of reasons. There's an offer and if he wins, certainly he will take it."

Adamek’s statement on the subject falls directly in line with those guiding his career.
 
"I think about this fight because it's Saturday night," said Adamek. "On Sunday morning, I will think about Arreola."

Arreola and head trainer Henry Ramirez are expected to be on hand in Newark for Saturday’s fight against Estrada.

For Adamek, the fanfare and paydays of HBO programming are a welcome breath of fresh air from his recent American television arrangements. None of his past three fights have been featured on HBO, Showtime or even ESPN2.
 
The only live American feed for this fight will be online at www.gofightlive.tv .

Still, the task at hand remains dangerous.
 
When announcing Estrada at the press conference, Kathy Duva went as far as to refer to Estrada's movement and hand speed as Adamek's "non-strengths", alluding to the difficulties faced in his only loss to Chad Dawson and his close battle with Steve Cunningham.

Adamek dismissed those claims, along with Estrada's promises to return him to the cruiserweight division.

"You can say so many things but that doesn't mean nothing. We're going to see who is the better fighter, whose style suits the other better on Saturday."

Adamek won't be the only one bigger than ever on Saturday night. Duva projects live attendance to break the 10,000 barrier, which would be at least 3,000 more than Adamek's previous high at the arena.

"It's geometric growth," Duva stated enthusiastically, though an impending snowstorm expected to reach the northeast by Friday night may affect the walkup crowd of ticket-buyers.

Past Estrada and Arreola, daunting challenges such as the 6'7", 245 pound giants from Ukraine await Adamek in his quest for a world title in a third division.
 
Gone are the days of the 220-pound heavyweights, when light-heavyweights routinely challenged heavyweights and sometimes won. Some recent aberrations exist, like Roy Jones Jr. and more recently, cruiserweight king turned heavyweight titlist David Haye, but both made good use of judicious matchmaking.

Adamek isn’t – nor has ever been – interested in exploring such short cuts. Beat the best to become the best is the only way he rolls.

"If we get HBO with [Vitali or Wladimir] Klitschko, we take Klitschko. If we get Haye, we take Haye. I'm a fighter, I'm ready to fight with anyone. If you start getting into the ring afraid you should stop because it makes no sense.
 
“I always go into the ring thinking I am a better fighter and I am never afraid."

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Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com . He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com .