By Keith Idec
NORTH BERGEN, N.J. — Michael Grant’s greatest moments in a boxing ring occurred nearly 11 years ago against Andrew Golota.
A still-green Grant got up from two first-round knockdowns, withstood many more punishing punches from Golota and made the psychologically fragile Polish heavyweight quit after scoring a 10th-round knockdown on Nov. 20, 1999, in Atlantic City. Grant’s courageous performance propelled him to a title shot five months later at Madison Square Garden, where Lennox Lewis exposed the athletic former football player en route to a second-round knockout.
Grant made roughly $5 million for challenging Lewis, but he has remained out of the spotlight after suffering subsequent technical knockout losses to Jameel McCline and Dominick Guinn over the following three years. More than a decade after his most important win, the Chicago native has returned to New Jersey with hopes of upsetting another popular Polish heavyweight contender and securing a second title shot.
The odds obviously are stacked against the 6-foot-7, 261-pound Grant (46-3, 34 KOs) entering his 12-round fight tonight against adopted New Jerseyan Tomasz Adamek (41-1, 27 KOs) at Prudential Center in Newark.
The 38-year-old Atlanta resident hasn’t faced a relevant heavyweight since the then-rising Guinn hammered him in their June 2003 in Atlantic City, much less beaten one. He won each of his eight fights after Guinn stopped him in the seventh round at Boardwalk Hall, yet none of those victories has come against more than a C-level heavyweight.
Charles Hatcher, Wallace McDaniel, Marcus McGee, Billy Zumbrun, Kevin Montiy, Demetrice King, Paul Marinaccio and Kevin Burnett couldn’t have properly prepared Grant for facing Adamek, a smart, solid boxer who out-pointed a bigger, stronger man in his last fight. And while Adamek isn’t considered a puncher at heavyweight, Grant’s chin wasn’t exactly sturdy when he was in his physical prime.
Those are among the reasons handicappers have made Adamek about a 15-1 favorite in the main event of a four-fight pay-per-view telecast (9 p.m. EDT; $29.95).
Former light heavyweight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Grant’s trainer, believes odds-makers, fans, reporters and Adamek’s handlers are all in for a shock.
“I don’t know what Main Events was looking at when they [picked] Michael Grant,” Muhammad said, referring to the promotional company that represents Adamek. “But I think they’ve made one of the biggest mistakes in their history.”
Main Events chief executive officer Kathy Duva doesn’t dispute that Grant probably presents a greater challenge than the 10 previous years indicate.
“We respect Michael and we don’t think anybody is a steppingstone,” Duva said, whose company promoted Golota, too. “I still have nightmares about the night he fought Andrew Golota, so we know he’s not a steppingstone. We know that Tomasz needs to fight bigger guys, better guys, if he’s going to win the heavyweight title.”
For all of Grant’s glaring disadvantages, his right hand remains dangerous, especially since Adamek must take risks to penetrate Grant’s reach. But Adamek and his handlers believe giving away almost six inches and 44 pounds was worthwhile because he needs to grow accustomed to boxing bigger men if he is going to challenge either 6-6, 245-pound Wladimir Klitschko or 6-7, 250-pound Vitali Klitschko sometime in 2011.
“[Tomasz] is very aware of the risk he’s taking,” Duva said. “We all are. But the goal has always been, in his mind, and I give him credit for that, he’s not looking to get a payday somewhere. He’s looking to become the heavyweight champion of the world and successfully defend his title. He has to practice, he has to learn.
“And in doing so, he’s going to have to take big risks. That’s what he’s doing. He’s been taking big risks all along and I applaud him for that. If more fighters did that, we would have more fighters who are more popular.”
Adamek’s appeal is unquestionable both in Poland and northern New Jersey, where has lived the past several years. One of boxing’s best ticket-sellers, the former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion helped draw a crowd of 10,123 for his last fight at Prudential Center, a 12-round, unanimous-decision win against former American Olympian Jason Estrada (16-3, 4 KOs, 1 NC) on Feb. 6.
The 33-year-old Adamek’s next win, a 12-round majority decision over Cristobal Arreola (29-2, 25 KOs) on April 24 in Ontario, Calif., legitimized him as a heavyweight threat.
Grant gave Adamek credit for out-pointing Arreola near the 6-4, 250-pound Arreola’s hometown of Riverside, Calif. He just doesn’t see anything special in the hardworking, tough Adamek.
“Everyone’s talking about how he’s slick,” Grant said. “I don’t see no slickness. I don’t see any of that. … He’s a very simple, A-B-C-type guy.”
Muhammad, meanwhile, knows how to beat Adamek. He helped guide Chad Dawson to a lopsided points win against Adamek in a light-heavyweight title fight 3½ years ago, which remains Adamek’s lone loss.
Grant isn’t a fast-handed, fleet-footed southpaw, but his advantages and development have made Muhammad confident.
“Michael is the bigger man, he’s the harder-punching man,” Muhammad said. “He’s got the height and reach, he’s got the good jab. So everybody is going to see a very different scenario come [tonight]. We’re going to see a more mature Michael Grant, as far as putting a little pressure on [Adamek] and taking it from there.”
Grant acknowledges he wasn’t prepared for the pressure prior to his fight against Lewis. That’s why a nervous Grant wildly went about trying to knock out Lewis as soon as the opening bell rang April 29, 2000, in New York.
It’s difficult to predict how Grant will respond on a big stage again tonight, mostly because he hasn’t occupied one in seven years. Nick Garone, who became Grant’s promoter in 2008, thinks winning lower-profile fights and taking time to develop his technical skills since Muhammad came on board four fights ago makes Grant a rejuvenated, fresh fighter, despite his age.
That remains to be seen, but Grant undoubtedly has been presented with a perfect opportunity to launch an incredible comeback. An upset of Adamek would make him relevant again in a division desperate for competition for the Klitschkos and David Haye, who seems content to avoid encountering either brother.
“Michael is in the enviable position, frankly, of coming into this where he has everything to gain,” said Duva, whose company promoted Grant when he fought Golota and Lewis. “Tomasz has a great deal to lose and sometimes that dynamic is a great advantage to the guy coming in with everything to gain. So Michael is in a very enviable position, as is everyone who fights Adamek at this point, until Adamek fights that title fight.”
Adamek is tentatively scheduled to fight an undetermined opponent Nov. 6 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, before pursuing the Klitschko brothers early next year. Muhammad couldn’t care less.
“I respect Adamek as a fighter,” Muhammad said. “Don’t get me wrong. But I know what I’ve got in Michael Grant.”
Nearly 11 years after Grant’s greatest moments in a boxing ring, Muhammad is one of few men who can actually say that. We’ll learn tonight whether he’s telling the truth.
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com.
