One of the more exciting men in the heavyweight division will be in action again this Saturday night. Unfortunately, the fight won't be televised in the U.S. even though it's taking place in New Jersey.
The man in question is former light heavyweight and cruiserweight titleholder Tomasz Adamek, who made the jump to heavyweight last fall and seems determined to stay there. He'll face Jason Estrada at the Prudential Center in Newark, at the top of a card that should be well-attended but won't be carried by any of the usual boxing cable outlets.
With the Brothers Klitschko dominating their recent competition, the heavyweight division continues to have a need for anyone who can inject some adrenaline into the proceedings. Adamek could certainly fill that role, but so far, the TV folks haven't been convinced.
It's not because he doesn't come to fight. Adamek loves to mix it up, and his combination of solid power and a sturdy chin usually lends itself to an excellent show.
In December of 2008, Adamek edged out Steve Cunningham in a thrilling bout (one that was carried by Versus) that featured three knockdowns and plenty of back-and-forth action. His next fight against Johnathon Banks also had its moments and ended with Adamek prevailing with an eighth-round TKO.
Adamek resides in Jersey City but originally hails from Poland. Every time he fights at the Prudential Center, he gets a crowd reaction many American boxers don't get in their own country.
Yet his crowd-pleasing style and hometown popularity hasn't translated into much interest from HBO or Showtime. The problem could be his opposition. There was some talk in 2009 about Adamek fighting Bernard Hopkins, but that never happened, and he chose to move up to heavyweight instead.
His first clash with a big man was in Poland against countryman Andrew Golota. Because of the time difference and the (probably correct) opinion of most boxing observers that Golota was washed up, it's understandable that cable passed on that one.
Estrada isn't a stiff, but he's not ranked among the top 10 heavyweight contenders and isn't a well-known commodity. He's definitely not the type of foe who is bringing his own viewers to the party, which certainly doesn't help Adamek's case.
It remains to be seen if Adamek will have enough success in his current division to eventually land a shot at one of the Klitschkos. If he does, he'll face the same daunting size disadvantage that has proven insurmountable for so many others, but I can almost guarantee that Adamek will give a good account of himself even in defeat.
Let's hope we don't have to wait for that to happen to see him on TV in the U.S. again. The goal of any network that shows boxing is to put on entertaining fights, and putting Adamek on the schedule could only help.
UPDATE: I still wish Adamek was on cable, but it's been brought to my attention that there is a way to see his fight with Estrada. That would be through GoFightLive.tv, where the card is available for $9.99. Alas, it's not available through the site in Poland.
Posted by The Franchise
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