Tomasz “Goral” Adamek: The Polish Warrior Makes His Final Run.
By: Sergio L. Martinez

Beginning his 15th year of professional boxing, Polish heavyweight contender Tomasz “Goral” Adamek will enter his 52nd professional fight in a match promoted by Main Events and televised on NBC Sports this Saturday. The veteran warhorse is slated to face Vyacheslav “The Czar” Glazkov (16-0-1 with 11 KOs), an undefeated Ukrainian heavyweight who captured the bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics.

This contest pits Adamek at a crossroads: a win against the rising Glazkov shows he’s still sustainable, keeping him in contention, while a loss might land him permanent residency as a heavyweight gatekeeper. Adamek’s entire career has been about proving viability; his fighting style, passion and drive to succeed has led to some memorable battles and kept “Goral” relevant well beyond his expected expiration date.

As a light heavyweight champion, Adamek had two memorable wars against fellow boxing gangster Paul Briggs. After being clearly out boxed by Chad Dawson, “Goral” moved up to cruiser weight where he captured another world title and partook in memorable matchups against O’Neil Bell and Steve Cunningham. After a few defenses of his cruiserweight title, Adamek stepped up to heavyweight in late 2009.

As a maximum weight pug, “Goral” has been involved in 12 fights, with a record of 11-1-0 with 3 KOs. His lone loss was to a Ukrainian monster, Vitali Klitschko, via a 10th round technical knockout. Along his journey with the big boys, Adamek has defeated decent of competition considering the lack of overall debt in the division, including fellow countrymen Andrew Golota, Michael Grant, Eddie Chambers and Chris Arreola. Although it is not exactly a murderous row, it is a reasonable resume considering what the heavies offer.

In Glazkov, Adamek will be faced with a hard punching, relentless combatant. This means that “Goral” will have his opportunities at victory, if the years of brutal warfare have not taken the starch out of him. Like Adamek, “The Czar” will be there to be hit and return the punishment in spades. Because of the temperaments and fighting styles of both men, this bout promises to be exciting, but also guarantees a real test to see where exactly each fighter is at in their career now, and where they will be in the future.

For Glazkov, a loss does not mean the end of the road as he is young enough and still coming up to where it can be considered a learning experience. For Adamek, losing to “The Czar” has far greater implications as he will be seen as a vulnerable ex-gladiator with enough of a name to feed the younger pups with little regard to his personal health and wellbeing. Though there is not too much money in that realm, there is just enough to keep trial horses coming back for more. It definitely is not a legacy sought after by anyone, but it is a reality nonetheless. Such is life and life is boxing.

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