Heavyweight contender suffers lopsided loss to Glazkov
Kearny native Tomasz Adamek (l.) takes a vicious straight jab from Vlacheslav “Czar” Glazkov during their nationally televised heavyweight elimination fight Saturday, a card that was held at the Sands Casino in Bethlehem, Pa., and aired on NBC Sports Network. Glazkov won via a unanimous decision.
By Jim Hague
Observer Sports Writer
Before he took to the ring for the first time in almost a year, Tomasz Adamek shook off questions about what would happen if he happened to lose to undefeated challenger and former sparring partner Vlacheslav “Czar” Glazkov.
“I never think about losing, because I’m a winner,” Adamek said in a pre-fight conference call last week. “I’m ready for a war. If God keeps me healthy, then I’ll keep going. I’ll keep fighting.”
A few days later, maybe Adamek is thinking about taking back those words.
In a fight televised nationally by the NBC Sports Network, Glazkov dominated Adamek from the start and won the 12-round fight by unanimous decision. Two judges scored the fight 117-111 and the other had it 117-112 in favor of the upand- coming challenger.
Glazkov improved his record to 17-0-1, while Adamek lost for the first time since facing Vitaly Kitschko for the World Heavyweight Boxing championship in 2011. Adamek, who is now 37, saw his professional record drop to 49-3.
There were many boxing experts who believed Glazkov had the upper hand against Adamek because of the damage he caused while acting as a sparring partner for Adamek.
“As everyone knows, sparring is sparring,” Adamek said pre-fight, trying to stay away from controversy. “The fight is a different story. I know I’m going to be the best.”
Adamek won the first round on several cards, but started to see the fight slip away in rounds 2 through 6, when Glazkov used a stiff left jab and a powerful right corner to hurt Adamek on a few occasions.
“We had a nine-week camp,” Adamek trainer Roger Bloodworth said. “We did what we normally do to prepare for a fight. When a fighter reaches Tomasz’ age, he needs rest.”
The Polish native who has called Kearny his home for the last four years had to pull out of the originally scheduled bout between himself and Glazkov last November, because Adamek was sick with the flu.
“I take every fight very seriously,” Adamek said. “I didn’t just stay home because I was sick. I got back into camp for nine weeks. I feel very sharp and very good.”
Adamek was neither on Saturday. Although some late round jabs scored like they did in his previous wins, there wasn’t a constant assault of scoring punches and that cost Adamek dearly.
Tomasz Adamek
As for being very good, Adamek looked over-matched – and began to really show it in the middle rounds, when he offered very little resistance. At one point, the CompuBox computer service that scores fights for television viewers, said that Adamek had scored with only 17% of his punches while Glazkov had 45% of his punches score. That’s a big differential.
“I’ve been in the business a long time,” Bloodworth said. “You have a fighter here with a lot of experience and knowledge going up against a young fighter. Well, experience will tell the story.”
Unfortunately, it did not. Glazkov won the fight, fair and square. There were no controversies, no complaints. There were only 6,000 or so avid Adamek fans who made the trek to the new Sands Casino and Race Track to see the fight. The fans let out their famous cries and chants of “Adamek, Adamek,” but to no avail. The local hero was a beaten warrior.
Adamek won’t get another shot at the heavyweight championship. That ship has sailed.
So who knows if Adamek still wants to do it, doing it for the love of the game while collecting smaller, non-TV generated revenues?
Meanwhile, the rising star in the heavyweight division is the 27-year-old from the Ukraine.
“I would like to thank Main Events and Kathy Duva for giving me this opportunity and taking me to this road,” Glazkov said.
Kathy Duva of Main Events sponsors both boxers.
“I also want to thank Tomasz Adamek for taking this bout and giving me this opportunity,” Glazkov said. “He was risking more than I did. Tomasz was not a guy who was backing up, he was coming forward. It was a very good bout.”
It could very well mean the end of the road for Adamek. We will have to see the next few weeks, whether he’s up to training full-time once again. It will be a tough decision for Adamek, but one that can be made easier if he sees all the old-time fighters who are struggling with Puncher’s Dementia (or punch drunk syndrome) or even worse.
Duva hinted that Glazkov is the rising star of her stable now – and not the Polish wonder who took the area by storm, the boxer who calls himself “Mountain Boy.”
“This is a passing of the torch. Glazkov did everything he absolutely had to do to win this fight against a very tough and very accomplished opponent. Tonight, he announced his arrival to everyone that he belongs among the top five heavyweights. Adamek is someone who has been a top ten heavyweight for the last 6-to-10 years. I am really at a loss to say who amazed me more.”
