Adamek-Gunn a poor stand-in

July 8, 6:12 PMNewark Boxing ExaminerAaron King

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Photo: MainEvents.com

The Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. could have been host to one of the year’s mega fights this weekend. Instead, it will be the site of what will likely be an inconsequential mismatch—at best.

Cruiserweight king Tomasz Adamek will step in the ring opposite Bobby Gunn this Saturday, July 11. If the name “Bobby Gunn” rings a bell, it may be that it sounds like a character from a “Rocky” movie. Either that or you remember that two years ago, he was slaughtered by Enzo Maccarinelli inside one round. Adamek might make faster work of him.

It’s all a shame, too, considering what could have been. In the spring, Bernard Hopkins made a lot of noise about moving up to cruiserweight to challenge Adamek, who was a red-hot commodity coming off his dazzling slugfest victory over Steve Cunningham and stoppage of the talented Johnathon Banks.

Hopkins talked about the fight every chance he got—even announcing his intentions on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights—and Golden Boy drummed up the fight further more in the media. HBO was ready to put up big bucks (a reported $3 million) for the fight, and rightfully so. It would have been a significant match up, and what’s more, an exciting one. The energy in the Prudential Center, a short drive from Hopkins’ hometown of Philadelphia and where Newark’s Polish community always shows in big numbers for Adamek, would have blown the roof off the building.

Alas, Hopkins and Golden Boy low-balled Adamek and his promoter, Main Events, offering them a $500,000 flat fee according to Dan Rafael at ESPN.com. Kathy Duva told Rafael that she expected the fight to make somewhere in the neighborhood of $4.5 million.

And that was it. After Duva told them where they could stuff their “offer,” Hopkins and Golden Boy felt no impetus to negotiate the terms. It was their way or no way at all.

So, that leaves us with Adamek-Gunn. Main Events elected to stick with the July 11 date in Newark. Gunn (21-3-1, 18 KO) is essentially a tough guy who bounced around fighting no-names for two decades before getting chopped down by Maccarinelli. Since then, he is 5-0-1 with four knockouts against a host of no-names.

The 35-year-old Hackensack, N.J.-based Gunn will have little answer for the offensive arsenal of Adamek (37-1, 25 KO). Adamek has ripped through the cruisers since his sole loss to light-heavyweight boss Chad Dawson in early 2007. He started 2008 by dismantling former undisputed champ O’Neil Bell in eight, and his subsequent efforts against Cunningham and Banks have clearly defined him as the man at the 200-pound limit.

The “contest” in Newark notwithstanding, Saturday night will be a momentous one for the cruiserweight division. Cunningham squares off against former titlist Wayne Braithwaite in Florida. Braithwaite has not been the same since dropping a decision to Jean-Marc Mormeck in 2005 and has been fairly inactive with only three fights in the past three years.

Should Cunningham get by Braithwaite—which, he should—he could get another go-round with Adamek. If you want to gauge the excitement surrounding that potential showdown, note that there is a Web site called wewantarematch.com that is dedicated to lobbying for Adamek-Cunningham II. They even have a petition.

No joke.

So, even though boxing fans won’t get the historic championship bout they were hoping to see in Newark on Saturday night, there will still be plenty to root for.

Adamek-Gunn will be available at Main Events’ Web site, mainevents.com, for $9.99.

• Main Events homepage
• Prudential Center fight info