Rumors of 'Polish dream fight' between Adamek and Golota persist

August 22, 1:37 PMNewark Boxing ExaminerAaron King

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Cruiser champ Tomasz Adamek. Photo: Main Events

Despite the Kathy Duva’s best efforts, the nagging prospect of a “Polish dream fight” between former heavyweight titlist Andrew Golota and cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek just won’t go away.

Last month, Duva, CEO of Main Events and Adamek’s co-promoter, told BoxingScene.com that the potential bout is not being earnestly explored. In fact, she said in that interview that she wasn’t even sure where the rumor came from.

Nonetheless, the rumor lives on. This is due, in part, to the fact that Duva and Adamek have done nothing to sincerely invalidate the story. Main Events has reserved an October 10 date at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, where Adamek has staged his past three fights including a June 11 annihilation of the utterly unworthy Bobby Gunn.

Duva has indicated that they are targeting that date for a potential rematch between Adamek and mandatory challenger Steve Cunningham. The two faced-off in an absolute slugfest in December, undoubtedly one of the best fights of 2008.

But, if careful scrutiny is applied to Duva’s words, there is cause for concern that the all-Poland faceoff could come about. Again citing the BoxingScene.com interview, Duva said that no other options would be explored until negotiations with Cunningham were complete. If there are more lucrative offers available—especially a less threatening one like Golota—Team Adamek may have a short rope on talks with Cunningham.

What may be more likely, however, is that Duva is simply paying lip service to the IBF and their number one challenger. Reports state that Golden Boy’s Richard Schaeffer was recently in New York to revive talks with Duva about a potential megafight between Adamek and Bernard Hopkins. Indications are that Hopkins is serious about making the fight this time.

If that’s the case, then Duva clearly is not waiting to finish talks with the Cunningham camp. That leaves open the possibility that she is also talking to Golota’s people.

Apparently, Zygmunt Solorz, owner of the Polish television network Polstat, is making a big bid to bring the fight to Poland—which, according to reports, Adamek’s trainer finds an intriguing possibility. Obviously, that would mean that Adamek could not fight in Newark on October 10, but then, Duva only said that he “might fight on that date” and that nothing was particularly certain.

Adamek and Main Events still seem to want the Hopkins fight, first and foremost. But, after the rotten “negotiations” with Golden Boy a few months ago, one couldn’t blame Duva for eyeing other plans. If you’re Adamek and the Hopkins fight doesn’t happen, why not squeeze out a big, easy payday before going back in with the ever-dangerous Cunningham? Adamek-Golota would make heaps of money in Poland, and being that Golota quit after being beaten up for one round by Ray Austin in his last fight, even the least prescient fan would feel safe picking Adamek. (For a quick laugh, check out the Don King Productions promo for the Austin-Golota card.)

The next two weeks will answer a lot of questions about Adamek’s immediate future. Whether he takes on his most baneful rival, one of the sport’s most significant legends or a washed up countryman, October is right around the corner.