There was no stunner, no triumphant home return punctuated with a championship-belt trophy.

Between Fighters: Adamek vs. Grant

On August 21, 2010, Tomasz Adamek will look to keep his successful boxing voyage to  the heavyweight division going when he faces the older, taller and rangier Michael Grant, who is continuing on the comeback trail after being severely knocked out by Dominick Guinn back in 2003.

The fight will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, where Adamek has had a lot of success winning fights lately, and has enjoyed a large base of support. Adamek will be taking on a hefty challenge in this fight, which will prove whether or not he can deal with the size and long reach of Michael Grant.  If Adamek passes the test on August 21, he could be in line for a big fight with David Haye or either one of the Klitschko Brothers, Wladimir or Vitali.

For Michael Grant, the fight poses a huge opportunity for the 37 year-old if he can pull the upset against Adamek in August, thus, propelling him immediately to the negotiation table for a possible fight with the Klitschkos or maybe David Haye. The question for this fight will be whether or not Grant can use his size and reach to his advantage to frustrate the pressuring style of Adamek enough to get a decision or knockout.

Tomasz Ademek is one of the toughest fighters in the boxing world today.  Adamek turned professional back in 1999, winning titles in the light heavyweight division and cruiserweight division over fighters such as Paul “Firepower” Briggs and Steve Cunningham in the cruiserweight division.  Adamek has in his short stint in the heavyweight division ran through opponents in his quest to challenge the elite heavyweights.

In Ademek’s last fight back in April of this year, he faced Chris Arreola.  Throughout the fight, Adamek used his lateral movement, threw multiple jabs, and hit Arreola with hard combinations to the body as much as possible to tire out Arreola.  Both fighters got off in the fight, and both were rocked during some points of the fight, but in the end, it was Ademek’s hard combinations and boxing that was the recipe for winning a unanimous decision.

Since turning professional in 1994, Michael Grant was known for his physical appearance and athletic abilities.  With a 6 foot 7 inch frame, and 86 inch reach, Grant was built as the guy who was supposed to beat Lennox Lewis during the Lewis Era. With the help of then trainer, Don Turner, Grant defeated fighters such as Corey Sanders, Al Cole, Lou Savarese, and Andrew Golota en route to his title shot against Lennox Lewis.

In the heavyweight title fight against Lewis, Grant was knocked out by Lewis with a devastating uppercut in the second round, handing Grant the first loss of his career.  Grant tried to make a comeback in 2001 but lost to Jameel McCline when he was knocked down by McCline in the first round and broke his ankle, and then brutally knocked out in the seventh round by then undefeated heavyweight contender Dominick Guinn in 2003.

Now Grant is back on another comeback trail and in his last fight in May of this year, he won a first round TKO over heavyweight Kevin Burnett.

On August 21, 2010, two fighters will try to win a chance of a lifetime to fight either the Klitschos or David Haye, who should also be mentioned in the heavyweight mix.

Adamek vs. Grant Prediction

I expect Adamek to get inside of Grant’s towering stature and long reach to use Grant as a measuring stick to see how well he can deal with a fighter who is built like the Klitsckos.  Adamek will not try to jab with Grant, but test the older fighter’s legs with pressure to see how much the battle tested Grant has left.

Grant to be successful in the fight will have to use his jab to keep his distance.  I expect Grant to back up for most of the fight and then try to explode on Adamek late in the fight, if he is not discouraged by then.

This fight will be a battle of wills.  If Adamek is not able to handle the reach and distance, he will be in trouble.  If Grant does not stop Adamek from getting on the inside, he will definitely lose. Whatever happens, I feel with the action-packed fighting of Tomasz Adamek, he can produce a great fight for whoever steps in the ring with him.