By Dan Ambrose: It looks like heavyweight contender Tomasz Adamek (42-1, 27 KO’s) has found what will likely be an easy mark for him in his next fight. According to Dan Rafael of ESPN, Adamek will be fighting Vinny Maddalone next on December 4th. It was thought that Adamek, 33, would be facing Lance Whitaker next.

However, it probably amounts to about the same with Adamek facing the 36-year-old Maddalone next. Adamek just finished struggling badly with 39-year-old Michael Grant in his last fight in August.

Given how poor Adamek looked in that fight, and how he was shaken up in his fight with Chris Arreola, it was expected that they would find a nice soft touch for him to fight instead of a live body. Adamek is hoping to take on 39-year-old World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (40-2, 38 KO’s) next year, possibly in March.

However, Adamek can’t blow his chance for that big money fight by taking on a real contender because the chances are he might lose if it’s someone good like Denis Boytsov, Alexander Povetkin or Odlanier Solis, to name just a few of the top contenders that Adamek should be worried about fighting.

Maddalone can punch a little, but he’s slow of hand and slow of foot. He’s also very hittable. Maddalone has been beaten in the past by Alfred Cole, Brian Minto, Boytsov, Evander Holyfield and Jean Marc Mormeck. He hasn’t beaten a top fighter during his 11 year pro career and it’s doubtful he’ll start beating them anytime soon.

Maddalone won his last fight against 2nd tier heavyweight Dominique Alexander in March, stopping him in the 5th round. Maddalone should serve the purpose of making Adamek look good for his fans and would be fans. It’s unclear whether this fight will make it on cable.

It might not because it figures to be a mismatch. HBO might be interested in showing Adamek if he were to face someone that could actually beat him like Solis, Boytsov, Povetkin, Alexander Dimitrenko,or Kevin Johnson, but it’s doubtful they’ll want to show this fight.

Adamek will have pretty much zero chance of beating Vitali Klitschko when/if they fight. Adamek is too small, doesn’t hit hard enough and his chin is too shaky to beat one of the Klitschko brothers.

Adamek was a big puncher at light heavyweight and cruiserweight, but in making the jump to heavyweight, he’s now just an average puncher. Maddalone might actually be a bigger puncher than Adamek. That could be something for Adamek to worry about because he’s been shaken up heavyweights Jason Estrada, Arreola and Grant in the past year.