By Keith Idec (photo by Jan Sanders)
Tomasz Adamek took a close look at Cristobal Arreola on Dec. 5 in Atlantic City, where Arreola annihilated an overmatched-but-brave Brian Minto.
Adamek left Boardwalk Hall that night certain he can beat Arreola, despite the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Arreola’s size and strength advantages over the 6-1, 220-pound Adamek.
Nothing that occurred Feb. 6 at Prudential Center in Newark has changed his mind.
Adamek (40-1, 27 KOs) barely beat a smaller, lighter-punching Jason Estrada two weeks ago, but he happily accepted an April 24 fight against Arreola (28-1, 25 KOs) at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif.
The 12-round fight, which will be the main event of an HBO “Boxing After Dark” telecast, was officially announced during a press conference there Friday.
“He’s a strong guy and a good boxer,” Adamek said, “but I believe in my technique, I have a good chin and I have speed.”
The Polish-born, New Jersey-based Adamek’s chin and heart are unquestionable, but there is a large faction of fight fans and media members that don’t believe he’ll be able to withstand Arreola’s power. Estrada even questioned Adamek’s decision to challenge Arreola after their 12-round battle resulted in a unanimous decision win for Adamek.
“He’s in trouble, because Arreola is not going to try to box,” said Estrada, a 2004 Olympian from Providence, R.I. “I have enough power to hurt people, but those guys are strictly power punchers. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Someone like Arreola, if he hits him on the arm, he’ll mess around and kill him.
“If he fights somebody like Arreola, he’s not going to see [a fight against] a Klitschko. He doesn’t have enough to keep somebody like Arreola off him. He’s not that fast and he’s not that strong. He’s smart, but I don’t see what he can do to keep a guy like that off of him.”
Adamek dismisses such skepticism. He heard similar cynicism late last summer when he decided to move up from cruiserweight to fight fellow Pole Andrew Golota in what emerged as the most-watched sporting event in Poland’s history.
“Andrew Golota was the same,” Adamek said. “He out-weighed me by 40 pounds and they said, ‘He’s too big for you.’ I can fight big guys. We will see.”
Adamek dismantled the 6-4, 256½-pound Golota (41-8-1, 33 KOs, 1 NC) en route to fifth-round technical knockout win on October 24 in Lodz, Poland.
Golota was 41 when they fought, though, and was coming off a poor performance in his previous fight. The infamous former contender hadn’t fought in nearly a year prior to meeting Adamek, a bout against Cleveland’s Ray Austin that lasted only one lopsided round before Golota quit on his stool.
Still, Golota was able to hit Adamek with right hands, as was Estrada (16-3, 4 KOs, 1 NC), who stalked Adamek throughout their fight. Estrada landed the flashier, flusher punches during their bout, but Adamek was the busier boxer and seemed effective enough to earn a narrow win.
Two judges, Steve Weisfeld (115-113) and Joseph Pasquale (116-112), credited Estrada with winning five and four rounds, respectively. The third judge, Lawrence Layton, submitted a 118-110 scorecard that didn’t really reflect the competitive nature of their minor title fight.
“I can’t blame [Adamek],” Estrada said. “It’s not his fault that the judges are blind.”
Though the Arreola-Adamek match might not go the distance, Adamek will find himself in the position Estrada occupied when they fought earlier this month; Citizens Business Bank Arena is about a 20-minute drive from Arreola’s native Riverside, Calif.
Kathy Duva, whose Totowa, N.J.-based Main Events co-promotes Adamek, relentlessly tried to entice Dan Goossen, Arreola’s promoter, to bring the fight to Prudential Center, where an Adamek-crazed crowd of 10,123 went wild as he defeated Estrada.
Goossen, who has contractual control of the April 24 HBO date, understandably declined.
Arreola also has developed a strong fan base in Southern California and his handlers didn’t want him to fight on Adamek’s adopted home turf in northern New Jersey, where there is a large Polish community that has embraced Adamek since he moved there five years ago.
Duva believes an Arreola-Adamek fight could’ve drawn a crowd in excess of 15,000 to Prudential Center, whereas Citizens Business Bank Arena is configured to hold about 11,000 for boxing.
“I would’ve been much happier if we could’ve brought it to Prudential Center,” Duva said. “I feel horrible about not having this fight in front of the wonderful fans that keep coming out. But once he wins, we’re back and we’ll have an even bigger fight for them.”
Duva could’ve implored Adamek to continue fighting heavyweights with name recognition comparable to Estrada’s and still drawn large crowds to Prudential Center.
But the 33-year-old Adamek was adamant about boxing on HBO, which hasn’t televised one of his fights since October 2006. Adamek also views the 28-year-old Arreola as an opponent who can lead him into a heavyweight title fight immediately if he wins.
“My dream is to be at the top of the heavyweight division,” Adamek said. “He is in my way to becoming heavyweight champion. I must win with Arreola to get there.”
Adamek would prefer a fight against fellow former cruiserweight champ David Haye (23-1, 21 KOs) of England, but the Brit has a tough defense of his WBA title scheduled for April 3 in Manchester against former WBA champ John Ruiz (44-8-1, 30 KOs, 1 NC).
Fights against Haye, WBC champ Vitali Klitschko (39-2, 37 KOs) or IBF/WBO champ Wladimir Klitschko (53-3, 47 KOs) all would do big business for Adamek, who hopes to fight for a heavyweight title by the end of this year.
Even if he loses to Arreola, Adamek should remain a draw. His handlers believe many of the same loyal Polish fight fans who’ve never stopped supporting Golota will back Adamek no matter what happens against Arreola.
“Tomasz is the hottest heavyweight in the world if he wins,” Duva said. “That’s not even a close call. So there’s a great deal of upside. As far as the fight itself, and I said it a hundred times before the Estrada fight, I was more worried about Estrada than I am about Arreola. I still feel the same way. I’m very happy we made the fight.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and the Herald News, and BoxingScene.com
