Adamek Eyes WBO Title after becoming No. 1 contender
Coming off a twelve round decision against Michael Grant on Saturday, Tomasz Adamek is hopeful that by next year he’ll be competing with the heavyweight division’s titleholders. Today his promoter, Kathy Duva explained to Boxingscene.com that while a bout with either of the Klitschkos or David Haye doesn’t seem possible in 2010, there can no excuses for it not happening in 2011.
"I think we are talking about next year,” Duva said. “Every indication that we've gotten from the Klitschko people and every indication that we've not gotten from the Haye people because he's planning to fight in November, is that it's likely not going to happen before next year. The real decision right now is whether or not he's going to take a fight before that happens."
Already Adamek is tentatively set to return to the ring for an early November card. A potential candidate is Lance Whitaker, who weighs 250 pounds at an ominous 6-foot-8. The plan, already initiated with big heavyweights like Andrew Golota and Michael Grant, is to get Adamek used to fighting heavyweights bigger than him.
In his bout on the weekend, Adamek gave up 44 pounds to Grant, who clearly looked the bigger man and put up more of a fight than Adamek may care to admit. While Adamek won easily on points, he was staggered no less than three times in the bout, inspiring critics to suggest that he has lost his power and ability to take a punch by moving up to the division.
Adamek has fought and successfully won titles at both the light heavyweight and the cruiserweight divisions. His only defeat comes by way of Chad Dawson, who himself was defeated in early August by Ring light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal.
With his defeat of Grant, Adamek is the No. 1 contender for Wladimir Klitschko’s WBO title, so Duva is confident the opportunity will come sooner rather than later. "He's already the number one contender in the WBO, so very soon we'll be in position to compete for the promotion," she said.
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