By Ian S Palmer
Polish heavyweight Tomasz Adamek will be fighting at home this weekend as he takes on American Eric Molina in a 12-round bout at the Krakow Arena in Krakow, Poland on Saturday, April 2nd. Adamek, a former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion, lost his last two bouts by unanimous decisions to Artur Szpilka and Vyacheslav Glazkov and then took about a year off before deciding to enter the ring again. He came back against fellow countryman Przemyslaw Saleta last September and stopped him in the fifth round. He’s hoping for one more title shot before hanging up his gloves for good. The fight is for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental title and can be seen on the Polsat pay-per-view platform.
The 39-year-old Adamek has been a very consistent and underrated boxer throughout his fine career, but has always flown under the radar and has never quite reached the elite or star status anywhere other than his homeland. He enters the fight with a fine record of 50-4 along with 30 Kos. He’s almost 6-feet-2-inches tall and has a 75-inch reach. He’s been stopped just once, and that was against Vitali Klitschko in the 10th round back in 2011 for the heavyweight title.
Adamek has also been beaten by decision against Chad Dawson. On the bright side, Adamek has beaten some good boxers over the years since turning pro in 1999, such as Paul Briggs, Steve Cunningham, Eddie Chambers, Michael Grant, Vinny Maddalone, Chris Arreola, Andrew Golota, Jason Estrada, Bobby Gunn, Johnathon Banks, O’Neil Bell, Thomas Ulrich, and Travis Walker. Adamek has a boatload of experience as well as an excellent chin. He’s come up through the weight ranks and isn’t really a natural heavyweight.
Adamek is getting on in age, but still has enough left in the tank to be competitive while the 33-year-old Molina of Raymondville, Texas is best known for his ninth-round KO loss to WBC Champion Deontay Wilder last June. Adamek’s at his best when he presses the action and gets off first. He’s got enough power to do some damage, but isn’t the hardest guy to hit. Molina has a questionable chin, likes to throw a lot of punches and possesses quite a bit of power in his fists. He’ll need to land some heavy shots to keep Adamek off of him.
Molina enters the fight with a record of 24-3 with 18 Kos. He has 110 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2007 while Adamek turned pro in 1999 and has fought 366 rounds. Adamek’s knockout percentage stands at 56 per cent while Molina’s is 67 per cent. Therefore, most fans aren’t expecting this bout to go the distance. At 6-foot-5-inches tall and with a four-inch reach advantage, Molina may have the power to make Adamek take notice, but his chin is quite susceptible as his three losses have all been by KO.
Two of those came in the first round when Chris Arreola dropped him in 2012 and Ashanti Jordan stopped him in back in 2007 in Molina’s pro debut. Molina’s biggest wins up to now have been against the likes of DaVarryl Williamson and Tony Grano. His last fight was a sixth-round stoppage over Rodricka Ray last October. Both of these boxers need a win if they hope to get another crack at a heavyweight title. If they both fight up to their potential the fans should have a pretty decent heavyweight tilt in front of them on Saturday.
Prediction
This is a tough one to call. If both boxers were in their prime then I’d go with Adamek. He’s slowed down a bit lately though, but his solid chin should see him still standing at the end of 12 rounds on Saturday. Since Adamek has the better boxing skills, he should take this bout by decision or late stoppage.
