Former heavyweight title holder, Michael Grant will be 38 years old when he steps in the ring against Tomasz Adamek in August. At this point of Grant's career, will he be a bigger challenge to Adamek, than what Arreola was?
Mark-Andrew M 2
Favorite Answer
Michael Grant never held a title unless you include the fringe IBC belt or the continental NABF title- the only time Grant challenged for a legitimate world title is when he fought Lennox Lewis and was knocked out in 2 rounds.
As far as who I think will win the fight- I'd be shocked if Grant manages to beat Tomasz Adamek at this stage of his career and in fact, I don't think Grant could have EVER beaten Adamek because prior to his first loss against Lewis, his biggest fight was against Andrew Golota and even though he won the fight, Grant was losing the fight widely on all 3 scorecards and if Golota had an ounce of heart, he probably would have beaten Grant that night. Some people (although not many) might be mislead by Grant because he's on an 8 fight win streak but when you look at his last 8 fights you'll see that they date back 6 years to 2004 meaning that he has not been very inactive and when you look at his opponents, they have all been fringe contenders who aren't anywhere near the top 10 heavyweights in the world.
Adamek is at his peak right now and he really impressed me with his victory over Chris Arreola because going into that fight, I was sure that Arreola was going to be too big and too strong for Adamek and that he would break Adamek down and stop him sometime late in the fight. Adamek showed a good jab and a good ability to throw punches in bunches on the inside and then getting back to the outside with good movement before things got too dangerous and that really impressed me, especially because in Adamek's previous fight to the Arreola bout, he struggled and he was hit WAY too much by the light-punching Jason Estrada. Grant has height and reach over Adamek but that's really all he has, all of the other advantages go to Adamek and I think that he'll use those advantages to his favor and get a stoppage victory over Grant in the mid to late rounds, continuing to make all of Grant's losses come by stoppage. Adamek is not a power puncher but his power is respectable, so I think that he'll wear Grant down with his punches and force a stoppage by the referee- I doubt Adamek will lay Grant out because he just doesn't have that type of power.
I don't think that Grant will be a bigger challenge to Adamek than Arreola was because Arreola is in his prime whereas Grant isn't and Arreola hit much harder than Grant does/did, plus there's the fact that Arreola was a top 10 heavyweight at the time Adamek beat him. I honestly think that this fight will be little more than a tuneup but I do think that it will be a good test to see how Adamek does against taller opponents but it really won't serve any purpose in seeing how he'll do against the Klitschkos- I think Adamek is a very good fighter but I think he'd be outmanned and outgunned against both brothers because they are simply too big, too strong, too smart and have too much reach for someone like Adamek: if he was a bit bigger and had more power, I would give him a much better shot at beating them but as it stands, I just can't see Adamek beating either brother. However, I believe that Adamek would stand a decent chance at beating David Haye (since he's closer to his height and weight range) and I would give Adamek a MUCH better shot at beating Haye than I would at him beating the Klitschkos.
Anonymous
I would guess he is going to get knocked out. He hasn't been a contender in probably a decade, and the reason he was chosen to fight Adamek is b/c he is like 6'6 or something tall, and they want Tomasz to get experience against some really tall opposition before he ends up fighting a Klitschko. Arreola was a fresh, young guy who put a lot of pressure on him and Adamek fought a great fight. Arreola was a tough challenge for Adamek, he got his chin tested and got to display his skills against someone with more power and who was much bigger. I think Adamek should dominate Grant, and hopefully a fight with Haye or a Klitschko will be on the horizon.
Anonymous
Age is the obvious difference here, the Michael Grant of 28 might have given Adamek a run for his money, but a decade later and a step slower, Grant is a huge underdog. This one should be easy for Adamek.
Macehualli Moquexquitzahuiani
My prediction is as follows.
Tomasz Adamek has proven himself to be a very good heavyweight. He may not have explosive punching power, but he has a rock-solid chin and can hang with the best punchers in the sport. He took MANY hard shots from Cristobal Arreola and shook them off, handily out-boxing Arreola by moving in, firing his point-scoring flurries, and moving out. He was smart to fight on the outside, something he needs to do because of his lack of one punch KO power.
Grant was a guy who had it all, save for a good chin. His light burned very brightly, only to flame out after being knocked out in the second round against former undisputed champion Lennox Lewis. He uis tall and has a very long reach at eighty-six inches, which he could use to keep Adamek at bay. But that is a BIG if.
I know that Adamek facing Grant is a test to see whether or not he could against either Vitali or Wladimir Kltischko, but the fact of the matter is that Grant doesn't nearly have the same skill as the two brothers and I feel that he will lose by a 12 round decision. Adamek will do what he does best, and that is to box on the outside, land his flurries, move out, circle the ring, move in, flurry, move out, circle, etc, etc. Good test for Adamek, but I feel nothign cvan truly propare anyone for either Wladimir or Vitali. They are in a league of their own and I pick either brother to beat him.
Kool K.
I used to be a huge fan of Michael Grant before he loss to Mccline, and realized that he had a severe glass jaw.
I would hope after 5 years of fighting out of the spotlight that he has learned something like, a better defense, protecting that chin, because he will need it against Adamek.
My heart is with Michael Grant, but my money would be on Tomasz Adamek.