Tomasz Adamek returns on Dec. 4 against Vinny Maddalone

Dan Rafael of ESPN.com reported this afternoon that terms have been agreed to for a December 4 fight between Tomasz Adamek and Vinny Maddalone.

To say this is not the next step any Adamek fan was hoping for would be kind. Adamek (42-1, 27 KO) is coming off of a fairly wide but overall shaky victory over washed-up Michael Grant on August 21, and now will be facing a 36-year-old career club fighter in Maddalone (33-6, 24 KO).

Let's put it this way for those unfamiliar with Maddalone. In this era of heavyweight boxing, with a career that began in 1999, Vinny Maddalone is a heavyweight from Queens who has never received a title shot -- of any kind. He's never been in an eliminator fight of any kind. He's never fought for one of the 12,000 trinkets that mean nothing to anyone but that fighters have a habit of collecting like I used to collect Happy Meal toys.

Not once has Vinny Maddalone ever fought for a belt. In a 40-fight career, he has never fought a 12-round bout. He has fought just seven 10-round bouts. Only once has he gone a full ten rounds. Maybe Maddalone doesn't give a crap about crummy belts that no one else gives a crap about either, and if that's the case, then I salute him for keeping his money and not forking it over to have his fights "sanctioned" for some piece of tin.

On the negative side for a moment, Adamek is fighting a pretty damn soft heavyweight schedule, and you just can't get around that. In his heavyweight run, he has fought washed-up and half-interested Andrew Golota, washed-up Grant, soft-punching Jason Estrada, and Cristobal Arreola, which was a really legit fight and a good matchup.

But the good news is that this lack of risk in the short-term might be leading to a fight with Vitali Klitschko in 2011. There have been rumblings that the sides have discussed a potential fight at Madison Square Garden. By staying busy and taking it easy, Adamek doesn't risk a potential monster payday against Vitali. That fight will do absolutely mega-ultra-crazy-big business in Europe and will do well here in the States, too, I believe. Staying sharp against a guy like Vinny Maddalone is not something to celebrate, but if the result of this is a fight with Vitali, then so be it.

The other good news is that it should be a pretty entertaining fight. Maddalone is a bulldog type who has never been afraid to get in there and mix it up, because he doesn't have a whole lot of other skills to go to. He's a tough guy, can punch a little bit, and I doubt he's ever been intimidated. So there are silver linings to this, even though it's not the best matchup.