Though Tomasz Adamek was game today in Wroclaw, Poland, fighting in front of over 40,000 of his home fans, it was clear very early in the fight that Vitali Klitschko was going to be too big and too strong, and that was indeed the case.
Klitschko successfully defended his WBC heavyweight title, stopping a reeling and hurting Adamek in the 10th round when referee Massimo Barrovecchio stepped in to stop the beatdown.
Adamek (44-2, 28 KO) gave the brave effort many expected. He didn't go wild trying to get to Klitschko (43-2, 40 KO), but he looked for openings all the time, and tried his best to cut off Vitali's huge height and reach advantage. That he couldn't do it is no knock on Adamek's skill level, nor his status as a deserving challenger in this fight. It simply came down to size. He was not big enough, and he couldn't get past the Klitschko jab, which busted up Adamek's face over the course of the fight. On two occasions, Adamek was knocked into the ropes with right hands, though only one was called a knockdown, and both should have been.
Klitschko, now 40 years old, is running short on time left in a great career. His next fight may be against David Haye, who earlier today proclaimed that he would postpone his retirement an additional six months if it meant getting a fight with either Klitschko brother. Wladimir has said he's not interested, but Vitali is very interested, wishing to knock Haye out and finish what his brother started.
As for Adamek, there are still a lot of good fights in the division for him. He may struggle with size against any of the better fighters, but he's still got a win over Chris Arreola on his record, and would be a nice matchup for current WBA "regular" titlist Alexander Povetkin, too. Adamek is a brave, extremely tough fighter, and he has a great fanbase both in Poland (which would travel, I'm sure) and in the United States.
Final CompuBox stats had Klitschko landing 230 of 608 punches (38%) compared to Adamek's 89 of 301 (30%).
On the Undercard: Mateusz Masternak KO-3 Carl Davis ... Andrzej Wawrzyk TKO-9 Devin Vargas ... Mariusz Cendrowski TKO-5 Anton Sjomkin ... Ola Afolabi UD-8 Lukasz Rusiewicz ... Johnathon Banks TKO-7 Ivica Bacurin ... Sadam Ali TKO-6 Boris Berg.
Our day-long live coverage will resume shortly, as the Gamboa vs Ponce de Leon undercard begins streaming live at 7 p.m. EDT on TopRank.com.