TOMASZ ADAMEK vs JOHNATHON BANKS

At first glance there is a major difference in class in the ShoBox main event on Friday when Poland’s Tomasz Adamek defends his cruiserweight title against Johnathon Banks, an unbeaten but untested challenger from Detroit. Adamek is vastly more experienced at a much higher level of competition. Also, he is fighting on home ground in Newark, NJ, where the large Polish support in the crowd will make it seem as if the fight is in Warsaw.

Banks, 26, is a big man at 6ft 3ins, competent and quite heavy handed. He was national PAL champion in the amateurs.

In his two biggest fights, though, Banks had problems. He was down twice in the first round against Cuba’s Eliseo Castillo but showed character when he rallied to win in the fourth round. Then, in his last fight, Banks struggled to scrape home a narrow winner over cagey Italian veteran Vincenzo Rossitto. Banks looked like blowing the fight but finished strongly in the last round to escape with a majority decision.

Adamek looks so much the better fighter that it is easy to see why the sportsbooks have him a big favourite. A world champion at two weights, Adamek has proved his toughness, talent and fighting heart. There were the two punishing wins over Aussie banger Paul Briggs at 175 pounds, while in December he scored three knockdowns in his thrilling victory over Steve Cunningham to become cruiserweight champion.

Although Adamek has been known to get involved in wars he is actually a fine technician who can box with skill and speed, as he demonstrated when outclassing and knocking out Thomas Ulrich in Germany and in his wins over Panamanian slugger Luis Pineda and the dangerous O’Neil Bell. In these fights Adamek was savvy and stylish, and he had Bell so baffled and bamboozled that the discouraged Jamaican fighter astonishingly surrendered after seven rounds.

In his only defeat, Adamek was well beaten by Chad Dawson, but he was struggling to make the light-heavy limit at this time and moved up to 200 pounds immediately after the fight. Even though he was probably at least a little bit weight-drained, Adamek managed to knock Dawson down in that fight. I must give credit to Dawson for a superb boxing exhibition and he might well have been able to beat Adamek on the Polish boxer’s best night but I do believe that weight-making lessened Adamek’s chances.

As an amateur, Adamek was experienced internationally, winning a European championships bronze medal.

So, putting it all together he looks far too much for Banks.

Despite the almost overwhelming evidence that there can only be one winner on Friday, I do give Banks a reasonable chance in the fight.

When Adamek beat Cunningham he had to dig down deeply. He was hurt and on the verge of going down in the fourth round. At the end of the fight, although Adamek had scored three knockdowns it was the Polish boxer who looked almost done-in physically.

Normally a boxer would take a few months off at least after a fight such as that. Adamek, though, is boxing just a couple of months after a life-and-death type of contest.

Is he returning to the ring too soon? Adamek doesn’t think so. Speaking through an interpreter, Adamek said that he rested for a month after the fight with Cunningham, then got back in the gym to get ready for Friday’s fight. He said that he feels he had enough time to rest and then prepare for another title fight and that despite the short amount of time between bouts he feels relaxed, ready and confident of winning.

Certainly the fighters of yore would think nothing of boxing with little time in between their bouts, even the tough contests, but it is different in this day and age. Even though Adamek has an old-school look about him, I have a nagging suspicion as to whether he has given himself enough time off after the exhausting battle with Cunningham.

Banks looked like a fighter with a suspect chin when he went down against Castillo, but he did show excellent powers of recovery. He has been the chief sparmate of heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko for several years now, and a fighter who cannot hold a good shot would surely not have lasted as long as Banks has done in the Klitschko camp.

Although Banks is managed by Emanuel Steward, the day-to-day training has been handled by Steward’s nephew, Javan Hill. Banks is likely to have learned a lot working with Klitschko, though, while Steward will have passed on advice to the young fighter during the Ukrainian’s training camps.

On Friday Banks is making a colossal leap in class. The Adamek side might feel, after watching videos of Banks, that he is not in Adamek’s class. Bigger upsets have happened, though.

“I understand why they’re taking this fight, but I wouldn’t consider it a wise fight,” Steward said over the phone this week. “Banks may have not looked that electrifying in his recent fights, but he’s the type of guy that fights up to the level of his competition.

“He’s been the chief sparring guy for Klitschko for the last four years, even for southpaws like Chris Byrd he’s still been the key guy believe it or not. I think that he’s gonna be pretty good for this fight, because this guy is nowhere near as big as Wladimir. He’s never been hurt by Wladimir in all the rounds he’s boxed with him, and he’s held his own whereas the other sparring partners have been hurt pretty bad by Wladimir. He’ll be motivated for this fight. Guys like Adamek who get a hit a lot, sometimes they fall apart because it accumulates. Banks is a lot better puncher than he might have looked in his recent fights because he’s been a little lazy — but he can punch when he wants to fight.

“He’ll be going into hostile territory but I’ve been in this situation before, when I took Dennis Andries to fight Jeff Harding in the second fight in Australia, Vivian Harris with Oktay Urkal in Germany and when I took Oliver McCall to fight a guy named Lennox Lewis in London. I think it’s good that Adamek has caused a lot of excitement in New Jersey for the Polish people — I think that’s fantastic. We need guys like him. They’re exciting fighters. But you never know what’s going to happen from fight to fight when a fighter gets hit a lot.”

Banks has been inactive since last July because a proposed fight with Enzo Maccarinelli in Britain was postponed several times, once when Banks turned an ankle during roadwork, but he been in the gym during the layoff and he has stayed in good trim physically.

Steward could have waited for a new date to come up for Banks to meet Maccarinelli, but the chance to challenge Adamek was offered and fighter and manager decided to grab the opportunity.

If there is to be an upset, Banks is going to have to be able to fight the best fight he has ever fought while, at the same time, catching Adamek at a little less than his very best.

I started out thinking that this could be a mismatch but I cannot get away from the thought that Adamek could have done with a longer break from boxing after the war against Cunningham.

Adamek should be able to win, but with the fight now just a couple of days away I am starting to think that he could be in for a difficult night. I am expecting an Adamek win in about 10 rounds, but so much depends on whether there are lingering deleterious effects from the fight with Cunningham. A win by Banks would surprise me, yes, but it wouldn’t totally shock me.