Arreola vs. Adamek in April: Is Tomasz making a mistake by taking this fight?

By Jason Kim: Former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek is looking to fight big Chris Arreola (28-1, 25 KO’s) on April 24th in a bout that could be a make or break fight for either of the two fighters. Adamek, 33, moved up to the heavyweight division recently to get bigger paydays against the big boys and has fought once, beating an old Andrew Golota in a 5th round stoppage in October in Poland. While Adamek looked good in putting his punches together and knocking Golota down a couple of times, he wasn’t facing anything close to a top contender in that fight.

However, that didn’t stop many of Adamek supporters from getting excited and proclaiming him as a future heavyweight champion based on that one fight. Adamek looked good in winning, but he was very hittable against the slow Golota and there’s questions out there whether Adamek has the size and power to compete with the bigger and better heavyweights. Before the Arreola fight comes off, Adamek plans on fighting Jason Estrada in February. That fight should give boxing fans a better gauge of how good – or not so good – that Adamek is. Estrada has very little power, but he can throw good combinations and might be able to test Adamek to see what he’s got.

Arreola, 28, is a tough opponent for Adamek, mostly because of Arreola’s huge size and power. Arreola may carry around a lot of fat on his frame, but he has a great deal of power to go along with that fat. Adamek hasn’t faced anyone nearly as strong as Arreola. Golota may have been decent puncher earlier in his career, but he’s not in the same class as Arreola when it comes to punching power.

Adamek has toiled most of his career against light heavyweights, but no one like Arreola. Chris was beaten by World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in a 10th round stoppage loss in September. Vitali stayed on the move for 10 rounds and was able to beat Arreola with shots as Chris surged forward. Vitali was able to do this because he had the reach and size advantage over Arreola. Adamek won’t have size going for him against Arreola and will have to come up with another strategy if he’s to come out of this fight on top.

Adamek punches good, but his power won’t likely have any effect on Arreola. Adamek does his best punching when he’s standing flat footed and standing directly in front of his opponents. If he does this with Arreola, it means that Adamek will be vulnerable to getting hit with Arreola’s big shots. I’m not sure that Adamek can beat Arreola if the two get into a war. Adamek has wins over O’Neil Bell, Steve Cunningham, Paul Briggs and Johnathon Banks, but those fighters are 50 pounds lighter than Arreola.

Adamek weighed 214 for his last fight against Golota. Even if Adamek comes in a little heavier than that against Arreola, he’ll still likely be giving up at least 30 or more pounds. Arreola does well against smaller fighters than him. It might not be good for Adamek in this fight.

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