Tomorrow (November 8, 2014) in Krakow, Poland, ranked heavyweight Tomasz Adamek (49-3 record) returns to his home country for the first time since 2011 to face fellow countryman Artur Szpilka (16-1). Right now, the line be offered at Several Bookmakers has Adamek favored at (-220), with the comeback on Szpilka sitting at (+180). Adamek is at a critical point in his career, and he needs a win. Adamek has a lot of fights, and he is looking to get a shot and a payday by earning a match with Wladimir Klitschko. His last match in Poland was a loss to Vitali Klitschko, where more than 40,000 people attended the fight live. Adamek was able to offer little threat to Klitschko, but he went to work after the fight, winning 5 fights in a row. Unfortunately for Adamek, he stumbled in his last outing against rising Russian Vyacheslav Glazkov, dropping a decision. This puts Adamek with his back to the wall, as a second loss in a row would likely see his top 10 ranking at Heavyweight plummet. If Adamek is the old guard in Polish boxing, Szpilka may be the fresh blood coming up. He is 25 years old and sports a (16-1) overall record. Szpilka is a street fighter and former soccer hooligan who gravitated to boxing. Showing promise, he started a pro career. He didn’t fight in 2010 as he spent time in jail for some past street fights, but he returned and captured titles at Cruiserweight before starting in at Heavyweight. Despite his checkered past, Szpilka has split his career between the USA and Europe, and in his last outing he stepped up to face undefeated (17-0) prospect Bryant Jennings. Jennings handed him the first loss of his career, stopping him in the 10th and final round, so Szpilka too will be trying to prevent a two-fight losing streak. Outside observers of the Polish boxing scene who are used to seeing wide lines favoring the big names over there were surprised to see Szpilka getting this much respect at the books. There will not be much difference in height and weight between the two, with the younger fighter Szpilka having slight advantages in both categories. Szpilka is going to rely on his big punch to try and get Adamek out of there early. Adamek, who has been at Heavyweight for five years now, has faced much better competition than his opponent. But that figures to be a tall order here. Adamek has a very high level of experience, and though he stumbled in his last outing, he is going to go into this fight with the edge in terms of overall boxing acumen. He is the better boxer, and if he needs to, he should be able to outbox the much rawer Szpilka. Szpilka went into the 10th round against Jennings, and he won two rounds on the judges cards, but for Adamek this appears, on paper, to be a less complex opponent than those he has been facing. Unless Adamek’s skills have gone completely south, expect him to get through this fight with a win.
