Adamek vs Abell – Veteran slugger Tomas Adamek (52-5) returns to the ring this Saturday night as he faces Joey Abell (34-9) in the heavyweight main event.
Adamek is a former world champion at light heavyweight and cruiserweight, and he has long operated in the heavyweight division. He has held his own against the big boys for nearly a decade but the 2018 version of Adamek sees him enter the ring at 41 years old.
Adamek retired back in 2014 when he lost to rival countryman Artur Szpilka, but he returned less than a year later. Since then he has gone 3-1, with his only loss coming to Eric Molina. The American Molina parlayed that April of 2016 win over Adamek into a world title shot against Anthony Joshua, so the Polish veteran must feel he is close to a shot at a world title himself. Ten years ago in 2007 he took a loss as a light heavyweight to Chad Dawson, and he bounced back from that by grabbing a world title at cruiserweight. He quickly moved up to the heavyweight division and in 2011 he took the second loss of his career to Vitali Klitschko. It then WBC world champion Klitschko until the 10th round before he could finish the rugged Adamek, who never stopped fighting,
Abell has been in their with a long list of top talent and big names. He has fought Tyson Fury, Kubrat Pulev, Fres Oquendo and Oscar Rivas. In May of 2016 he started his current 3 fight winning streak with a fierce KO over then undefeated prospect John Wesley Nofire.
Abell is going to be about 30 pounds bigger than Adamek, but the undersized Adamek has used his boxing skill to beat the fighters he should beat. As a heavyweight, Adamek has notched wins over Chris Arreola, Andrew Golota and Steve Cunningham, just to name a few. All three of those fighters rate higher on the pecing order than Abell.
Abell is known to the Polish fans as he stopped Krzysztof Zimnoch last September. That also means that the crafty Adamek has something to work with as he preapres for Abell. Abell’s scalp is unlikely to propel Adamek to a title shot in today’s crowded heavyweight division, but the 50 fight veteran is determined to just keep on winning until he gets a title shot.
Adamek is the evening’s main event, but a handful of the fights n the undercard are also showing up at the sports books. Considering the number of fighters emerging from Poland in the higher weight classes, the matches on the undercard may warrant a look. As a culture, Poland qualifies as “fight hungry” and they give fervent support to their fighters. The books have Abell as light underdog in a near pick’em fight.
Cruiserweight Mateusz Masternak (40-4) has put together a four fight winning streak since falling to Tony Bellew in a bid for a cruiserweight world title. Rugged African Youri Kayembre Kalenga (23-4 ) provides the opposition inwhat is a near pick ’em fight. Kalenga has fallen to the likes of Yunier Dorticos and Dennis Lebedev, both of whom are world champions.
Sat 4/21 – Adamek vs Abell – Hala Sportowa – Czestochowa, Poland
Heavyweight 10 rounds –
Joey Abell +120
Tomasz Adamek -150
Cruiserweight 10 rounds –
Youri Kayembre Kalenga +100
Mateusz Masternak -130
Super Featherweight 10 rounds –
Sarah Pucek +1000
Ewa Brodnicka -2000
Cruiserweight 10 rounds –
Denis Grachev +420
Adam Balski -650
Light Heavyweight 8 rounds –
Tim Cronin +475
Robert Parzeczewski -735
Adamek vs Abell / Check out more boxing news and features at The Sweet Science.
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