Tomasz "Tomek" Adamek (; born 1 December 1976) is a Polish former
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
who competed from 1999 to 2018. He held world championships in two
weight classes
Weight classes are divisions of competition used to match competitors against others of their own size. Weight classes are used in a variety of sports, especially combat sports (such as boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and wrestling). Altern ...
, including the
WBC light heavyweight
Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional
In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...
title from 2005 to 2007, and the
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
and ''
Ring
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
'' magazine
cruiserweight titles from 2008 to 2009. He also held the
IBO cruiserweight title in 2007, and challenged once for the WBC
heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...
title in 2011.
BoxRec
BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing.
The objective of the site is to document every profess ...
ranks Adamek as the second best Polish boxer of all time,
pound for pound
Pound for pound is a ranking used in combat sports, such as boxing, wrestling, or mixed martial arts, of who the better fighters are irrespective of their weight, i.e. adjusted to compensate for weight class. As these fighters do not compete direc ...
. He is the first Polish boxer to win ''The Ring'' title.
Early life
Adamek was born in
Żywiec
Żywiec () (german: Saybusch) is a town in southern Poland with 31,194 inhabitants (2019). Between 1975 and 1998, it was located within the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship, but has since become part of the Silesian Voivodeship.It is the capital of Ż ...
, Poland, as of 2012 he resided in
Kearny, New Jersey
Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684,[Manchester, England
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...]
against Israel Khumalo. He won by TKO in the first round.
Light-heavyweight
WBC light-heavyweight champion
Adamek won the vacant WBC
light-heavyweight
Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing Professional
In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserw ...
title defeating
Paul "Firepower" Briggs by majority decision on 21 May 2005. The fight was described by some as one of the most brutal in recent memory, as Briggs suffered a large cut above his left eye early in the fight and Adamek bled profusely from his nose for much of the fight as well. Adamek tended to be the aggressor and won the fight.
On 15 October 2005, he defended his title against German boxer
Thomas Ulrich
Thomas Ulrich (born 11 July 1975, in Berlin) is a German former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2012. He challenged twice for a light-heavyweight world title: the WBC title in 2005, and the WBO/ lineal titles in 2006. He also held ...
by knockout in Round 6.
He then defended his title in a rematch with
Paul Briggs in 2006, again winning by majority decision.
After the fight
Jim Lampley
James Lampley (born April 8, 1949) is an American sportscaster, news anchor, film producer, and restaurant owner. He was best known as a blow-by-blow announcer on ''HBO World Championship Boxing'' for 30 years. He also had covered a record 14 O ...
said that Adamek vs Briggs I and II was the best combined 24 rounds he has ever seen.
Adamek vs. Dawson
Undefeated Adamek with 31-0 (21 KO) lost his first fight by unanimous decision to
Chad Dawson
Chad Dawson (born July 13, 1982) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2019. He has held multiple light heavyweight world championships, and was one of the most highly regarded boxers in that division between 2006 an ...
on 3 February 2007. During that fight, Adamek was knocked down in the seventh round; this was only the second time in his career he has been knocked down (upon slow-motion replay, Adamek was shown to have tripped on Dawson's foot after the body shot). Adamek, well behind on points, provided some drama by suddenly dropping Dawson in the 10th round but Dawson fended off the onslaught that followed, and won a clear-cut points decision. Immediately following the loss to Dawson, Adamek decided to move up in the
cruiserweight division.
Cruiserweight
After losing to Dawson, Adamek moved up to cruiserweight to beat Luis Andres Pineda by technical knockout in round seven. He defeated Josip Jalusic on 29 December 2007 in Germany.
Adamek vs. Bell
On 19 April 2008, in Poland, Adamek fought former undisputed cruiserweight champion
O'Neil Bell
O'Neil Bell (29 December 1974 – 25 November 2015) was a Jamaican professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2011. He held the undisputed cruiserweight title in 2006 and the lineal cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2007.
Professional career
...
in an
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
Cruiserweight title eliminator. Adamek floored Bell in round one and had good success by outboxing Bell. Bell opted not to come out for round eight, citing that he felt dizzy and ill.
IBF and lineal cruiserweight champion
In December 2008 he fought the then reigning champion
Steve Cunningham
Steven Ormain Cunningham (born July 15, 1976) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF cruiserweight title twice between 2007 and 2011. His nickname, "USS", is a reference to his US Navy service on the aircraft carriers and between ...
at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Knocking a game Cunningham down three times, he won the IBF and vacant lineal cruiserweight titles in a bout many thought was the fight of the year.
Adamek successfully defended his title against
Johnathon Banks
Johnathon Banks is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2014. He held the IBO cruiserweight title from 2008 to 2009 and challenged once for the IBF cruiserweight title in 2009. He currently works as a boxing traine ...
on 27 February 2009, at the Prudential Center in Newark. He won with a brutal TKO in the 8th Round. He then went on to defeat Bobby Gunn before a large crowd at the Prudential Center on 11 July 2009, with the referee stopping the bout at the ring physician's advice between rounds four and five.
He vacated the IBF title on 18 October 2009, choosing to move up to the
heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...
division.
Heavyweight
On 24 October 2009 in Łódź, Poland, Adamek defeated
Andrew Golota
Andrzej Jan Gołota (; born 5 January 1968), best known as Andrew Golota, is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013. He challenged four times for a heavyweight world title (by all four major sanctioning bodies), and as ...
by TKO in the fifth round to win the IBF "International" Heavyweight Title. Then, on 6 February 2010 in Newark's
Prudential Center
Prudential Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the men's basketball program of Seton Hal ...
he defeated
Jason Estrada
Jason Moses Estrada (born November 30, 1980) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2015. As an amateur, he competed at the 2004 Olympic Games in the super heavyweight division. He also won the gold medal at the 2003 ...
by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.
Adamek (40-1; 27 KO) then took on fellow heavyweight contender
Chris Arreola
Cristobal Arreola (born March 5, 1981) is an American professional boxer who has challenged three times for the WBC heavyweight title. He was ranked by BoxRec as the world's No.8 heavyweight at the conclusion of 2007 and as No.7 heavyweight from ...
(28-1; 25 KO) on 24 April 2010, at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in
Ontario, California
Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...
. The bout was televised as part of ''
Boxing After Dark
''Boxing After Dark'' is an HBO boxing program, premiered on February 3, 1996, that usually showed fights between well-known contenders, but usually not "championship" or "title" fights. Unlike its sister program, ''HBO World Championship Boxing ...
''. The Polish fighter won a twelve-round majority decision, with the scores of 114–114, 115–113, and 117–111. A day before the bout, Arreola weighed 250½ pounds, while Adamek was 217.
In 2010 he was the first Polish winner of the "Muhammad Ali Athlete Award" at the Giant Awards diner in Chicago.
![Adamek and Klitschko](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Adamek_and_Klitschko.jpg)
Adamek defeated veteran American
Michael Grant by unanimous decision on 21 August 2010.
In his first fight of 2011, Adamek defeated Irishman
Kevin McBride
Kevin Martin McBride (born 10 May 1973) is an Irish former professional boxer[McBr ...](_blank)
by a wide unanimous decision.
Adamek vs. Vitali Klitschko
On 10 September 2011 Adamek faced the
WBC heavyweight champion
Vitali Klitschko
Vitali Volodymyrovych Klitschko (; uk, Віта́лій Володи́мирович Кличко́ ; born 19 July 1971) is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer who serves as mayor of Kyiv[PPV
PPV, ppv or pPv may refer to:
Technology
* Pay-per-view on cable or satellite television
* People Powered Vehicle, a human-powered vehicle from 1970
* Police Pursuit Vehicles, the most common police vehicles in the United States and Canada
Scienc ...]
fight in
Polish TV history.
The referee stopped the bout after Adamek received punishing blows and was ruled out, as he was no longer able to defend himself.
Post-Klitschko fights
Adamek returned on 24 March 2012, after signing a contract with Main Events, defeating
Nagy Aguilera
Nagy Aguilera De La Rosa (born May 28, 1986) is a Dominican professional boxer. He is perhaps best known for his upset first-round knockout win over former WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev.
Professional career
2009
Nagy Aguilera knocked ...
by unanimous decision. He then agreed to face former heavyweight contender
Eddie Chambers
Edward Chambers (born March 29, 1982) is an American former professional boxer. He challenged once for a unified world heavyweight title in 2010. He was ranked as the fourth best heavyweight in the world by '' The Ring'' at the conclusion of 200 ...
. Both Adamek and Chambers were praised for taking the fight with no world title nor mandatory position on the line.
Coming into the fight, Adamek was ranked No.3 heavyweight contender by ''The Ring'', while Chambers, having had only one fight in two years and three months, was unranked by the publication.
[ The fight was the main event of the Fight Night card on ]NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
. In the opening rounds, both fighters were trading shots, with Chambers landing the most meaningful punches. During the first round, Chambers torn his bicep in the left arm, and often switched between orthodox and southpaw stances throughout the rest of the fight, throwing shots almost exclusively with the right hand, mostly connecting with overhand punches. Adamek was more active since round 3, frequently switching up from counterpuncher to aggressor. The bout lasted full twelve rounds, with Adamek being declared the winner by unanimous decision with scores 116–112 (twice) and 119–109.[ According to CompuBox, 1,381 punches were thrown, with Chambers landing 152 punches out of 462 thrown (32.9% accuracy), while Adamek landed 134 punches out of 919 (14.6%).]
Adamek defeated Travis Walker
Travis Walker (born June 22, 1979) is an American professional boxer. As an amateur, he won the 2003 National Golden Gloves.
Amateur career
He became the 2003 National Golden Gloves Super Heavyweight Champion beating among others a 17-year-old ...
on 8 September 2012 via fifth-round technical knockout at 1:51 due to a stoppage by the referee.
Adamek defeated Steve Cunningham
Steven Ormain Cunningham (born July 15, 1976) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF cruiserweight title twice between 2007 and 2011. His nickname, "USS", is a reference to his US Navy service on the aircraft carriers and between ...
in a very close and somewhat controversial split decision on 22 December 2012. Initially, the result was a draw, but after noticing a mathematical miscalculation in the judges scorecards, Adamek was declared the winner. On 15 March 2014 Adamek was defeated by Vyacheslav Glazkov
Vyacheslav Valeriyovych Glazkov ( uk, В'ячеслав Валерійович Глазков, born 15 October 1984) is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2016. He challenged once for the vacant International Boxing F ...
by unanimous decision after 12 rounds, losing his IBF North American heavyweight title.
Adamek vs Haumono
On June 24, 2017, Adamek defeated Solomon Haumono via unanimous decision, 100-90, 99-91 and 99-91 on the scorecards.
Adamek vs. Kassi
On November 18, 2017, Adamek fought and defeated Fred Kassi
Fred Kassi (born September 4, 1979) is a Cameroonian-born professional boxer based in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Professional career
After winning 15 of his first 16 professional fights, Kassi faced his first tough opponent. He was set to face Kend ...
via unanimous decision, 97-93, 96-94 and 96-94 on the scorecards.
Adamek vs. Miller
On October 6, 2018, Adamek fought heavyweight contender Jarell Miller. Miller was ranked #2 by the WBA and #5 by the WBO at the time. Miller dropped Adamek twice in the second round. After the second knockdown the referee stopped the fight despite a disoriented Adamek making it to his feet.
Professional boxing record
Television viewership
United States
Pay-per-view bouts
See also
*List of light heavyweight boxing champions
This is a chronological list of world light heavyweight boxing champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations:
Championship recognition
1903–1910
The light-heavyweight division was created in 1903, the brainc ...
*List of cruiserweight boxing champions
This is a chronological list of world cruiserweight boxing champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations:
Championship recognition
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), founded in 1921 as the National Boxing ...
*List of WBC world champions
This is a list of WBC world champions, showing every world champion certificated by the World Boxing Council (WBC). The WBC is one of the four major governing bodies in professional boxing, and certifies world champions in 18 different weight cla ...
*List of IBF world champions
This is a list of IBF world champions, showing every world champion certificated by the International Boxing Federation (IBF). The IBF is one of the four major governing bodies in professional boxing, and has certified world champions in 17 diffe ...
* List of ''The Ring'' world champions
References
External links
*
*
Interview with Tomasz Adamek
at BoxingInsider
at Cyber Boxing Zone
Tomasz Adamek - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamek, Tomasz
1976 births
Living people
Boxers from New Jersey
World Boxing Council champions
International Boxing Federation champions
Polish Gorals
People from Kearny, New Jersey
People from Żywiec
Sportspeople from Hudson County, New Jersey
Sportspeople from Silesian Voivodeship
Polish male boxers
The Ring (magazine) champions
International Boxing Organization champions
Heavyweight boxers
World light-heavyweight boxing champions
World cruiserweight boxing champions
Polish emigrants to the United States