By Allan Fox: The previously scheduled December 22nd fight between heavyweight contenders Tomasz Adamek (47-2, 29 KO’s) and Odlanier Solis (18-1, 12 KO’s) won’t be happening after all, according to fightnews.com. Neither fighter even signed contracts for the fight, and it’s unclear what happened to keep the fight from moving ahead.

Adamek, 35, still plans on fighting on December 22nd and his management are tying to find an adequate replacement opponent. Obviously, this will hurt Adamek if he can’t get a heavyweight contender on par with Solis because his goal is to get a title shot against one of the Klitschko brothers as fast as possible, and the only way Adamek can do that is if he keeps fighting well known contenders.

Since losing to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko by a 10th round stoppage last year, Adamek has beaten Nagy Aguilera, Eddie Chambers and Travis Walker. Chambers is a good fighter, and Walker is a decent 2nd tier guy. Adding Solis’ name to that list would have been a big deal for Adamek, and it would have likely given him a big push in the rankings. Adamek is ranked #3 by the IBF, and perhaps the best possible opponent for him to fight is #1 IBF Kubrat Pulev. However, that might be too hard of a fight for Adamek because Pulev is arguably a lot better than the likes of Chambers, Aguilera, Solis and Walker. Even if the fight were to take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, where Adamek fights most of his fights nowadays, Pulev would be a really tough fight for the 6’2″ Adamek due to Pulev’s 6’4 1/2″ side and excellent jab.

With only two months to go before his December 22nd fight, Adamek likely won’t get anyone too good and perhaps that’s a good thing for him because there are a few heavyweights in the top 15 that might be too much for him at this point.

Adamek is going to need to beat at least one good heavyweight so that it won’t be seen as a joke when he’s picked out by IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko to fight next year. Adamek looked like an overweight cruiserweight fighting Vitali last year, and even the German public, who the love the Klitschos, might not be all that excited about seeing Wladimir waste his time on fighting a guy like Adamek after watching how he easily beat him last year.

Adamek probably should try and fight Pulev just so he can prove that he belongs in the ring with Wladimir. However, the chances are remote that his management would attempt to make that fight, and even if they did, Pulev probably isn’t going to take the fight at the last minute. Pulev’s good enough to win the fight even on week’s notice, but I think his management might not like the idea of him taking the fight in the U.S in the same venue where Chambers lost a questionable decision to Adamek.