Brick City Boxing

by Leszek Dowgier

According to various sources, on October 10th of this year, in a yet to be determined city in Poland, IBF and Ring Magazine Cruiserweight champion Tomasz “Goral” Adamek will square off against former top heavyweight contender, and countryman, Andzej Golota.

Adamek 38-1 (26 KOs), who is coming off a stoppage victory against the over matched but very game Bobby “The Celtic Warrior” Gunn, has been talking about moving up to heavyweight, and specifically fighting Golota, for quite some time now. The reason this fight has finally become a reality is due to the fact that the Polish television network Polsat has apparently produced a substantial (and undisclosed) amount of money in order to make this fight happen.

[More:]

Golota 41-7-1 (33 KOs), best known for manhandling former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe in two consecutive fights only to be disqualified in each for low blows, is coming off a first round stoppage loss against Ray Austin due to an arm injury which forced the Pole to quit on his stool. Golota was once again looking to reignite his career which had been stagnating ever since he almost captured the heavyweight crown, first against Chris Byrd (a fight which ended in a draw) and then against John Ruiz (a fight which ended in a controversial decision for the Quiet Man). Since his blowout loss to Lamon Brewster in 2005, Golota strung together 3 decent wins before losing to Austin. This may be Golota’s last shot at a big fight and payday (the fighters will be splitting the purse equally).

Adamek, who is 6’½, is expected to enter the ring at around 220 lbs. Though such measurements would not make him a small heavyweight by historical standards, he would certainly be giving up quite a bit of size to the 6’4, 240 lb. Golota. Though Golota is well past his prime, both due to his age (41) and the injuries he has sustained, he is still a very large, rather mobile and certainly hard hitting heavyweight who might give Adamek (a former light-heavyweight) all that he can handle in his heavyweight debut.

The fight is expected to be a major sporting even in Poland as well as in Newark, where up to 10,000 fans are expected to watch a live broadcast of the fight at Adamek’s adopted home, the Prudential Center.

The fighters are set to go to Poland next week to finalize the deal.