Tomasz Adamek vs. Steve Cunningham
It was in 2008 when these two men first fought. It was a cruiserweight title fight that fight took place in Newark, New Jersey in what many people considered a fight of the year candidate. It also happened to be in Tomasz Adamek's adopted home state. It was a raucous pro Adamek crowd that was on it's feet for most of the night. Come Saturday night Adamek won't have that home field advantage. The fight will take place at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Which means the crowd will be all for Steve Cunningham who fights out of Philadelphia. But this fight will take place at heavyweight, which should play a huge role in the outcome.
This will only be Cunningham's second fight in the heavyweight division, while Adamek has been fighting there for three years. Adamek is a fan favorite who is never in a boring fight. He has a very simple fighting style, he comes forward and attacks with a slow and steady pace. Adamek is such a fan favorite because his defense is so poor. He has a very loose defense and never clinches to protect himself from punishment. That along with his strong punching and great chin is what makes him so fun to watch. His record is 47-2 with 29 knockouts. What may be the most impressive statistic is that the only men he has failed to beat are Vitali Klitschko and Chad Dawson, two of the best fighters on the planet. And his loss to Dawson came when Adamek was still at light heavyweight. This will be Adamek's fourth fight this year. He has stayed very active fighting about every three months. If he beats Cunningham on Saturday his record in 2012 will go to an impressive 4-0.
The Cunningham of 2012 is nowhere near as good as the Cunningham of 2008 was. And even then Cunningham was never an amazing fighter. He doesn't have great punching power and has a suspect chin. However he is very athletic and lanky so he can control a fight by staying on the outside and boxing his way to a victory. His record is 25-4 with only 12 knockouts. In their first fight he landed some massive punches right on the chin of Adamek and Adamek just walked right through them. So to have any chance of winning this fight he needs to use his jab and move. If this fight turns into the slugfest that their 2008 fight was then Cunningham has no chance.
This fight should be good, but don't expect a fight of the year candidate. In 2008 both men were at smaller weights which may have made Cunningham he could trade punches with Adamek. But now he knows he can't be succesful doing that, especially since Adamek dropped him three times in their first fight. If Cunningham stays smart and uses his jab to keep Adamek off him and boxes from the outside he has a chance, but that is easier said then done. Adamek is like one of those supernatural killers from a horror movie, he never runs after you, he just walks you down. That is what I expect to see Saturday night, Adamek walking his opponent down and punishing him.
PREDICTION: Tomasz Adamek wins via 10th round knockout.
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