In the cauldron of Poland's Wroclaw stadium, in front of 42,000 baying Eastern Europeans, the Klitschko brother’s circus came to town.
This time it was the turn of older sibling Vitali to put his WBC belt on the line against former Cruiserweight and Light-Heavyweight world title holder, Tomasz Adamek.
Pre-fight
5 days before the fight, the final press conference had been held in the town square, in front of the imposing gothic Town Hall.
Klitschko firstly expressed his admiration for the stadium, which he had flown over when entering the country, and then went on to praise his Polish challenger. "Tomasz Adamek is fast and in good condition" he said, "he is a difficult fighter and it will be hard for me" he continued.
His opponent Adamek commented, "after ten and a half weeks of training, I am in great shape". He went on to thank all of his fans who had purchased tickets and promised to do all he could to keep the belt in Poland.
The Fight
In what seemed something of a miss-match in size, the 40 year old Klitschko towered over his opponent, being as much as 6 inches taller, 2 stone heavier and having a far greater reach. Mandatory challenger Adamek gave the impression of being somewhat out of his depth at this higher weight and indeed, soon enough the proof would show.
The early rounds all went the way of the giant Ukrainian. His crunching jab, more often than not emanating from down by his knees, rocked the Pole who truly had no answer to the battering he was receiving.
Cheered on by the majority of the crowd and despite already bleeding from his nose and mouth, Adamek briefly shook the champion in the 4th round, but it didn't last long and by the 5th it was business as usual in the Klitschko camp.
Between rounds it was noticeable that the younger Wladimir was sat in the corner at his brother's side, looking focused on the job in hand and giving plenty of advice and encouragement. It really wasn't required however as the one-sided battering in the ring continued.
In the 6th, a powerful left-right combination from the Ukrainian had the challenger reeling on the ropes. Considered as equivalent to a knock down, the Italian referee gave him a standing 8 count, but by this time the writing was on the wall for the brave Pole as it only seemed a matter of time before the fight would end.
Towards the end of the 8th round, Klitschko found himself sat on the canvas, after slipping when following Adamek into the corner. As the round came to an end, it seemed that he was in considerable pain from the tumble and for a brief moment questions were asked as to whether he could continue. But sure enough he was soon out after the interval for the 9th, carrying on as before.
Eventually referee Massimo Barrovecchio stepped in and put an end to proceedings late into the 10th round. Adamek had been taking what could be classed as career-shortening blows throughout the bout and was still heavily bleeding. It could be argued that the contest should have been stopped a few rounds earlier, as there was only ever going to be one outcome.
After the Fight
Vitali was full of praise for the Polish Warrior, saying that on more than one occasion he had hit him hard, only to be surprised by his resilience and capability to take a punch.
Adamek was philosophical in defeat, "he was simply the better fighter and he won", he said.
Sadly, the first ever pay-per-view TV event to take place in Poland, had been something of a let-down for the home fans.
As for the Klitschko's, still in possession of the 3 major heavyweight title belts between them, the bandwagon rolls on.
Sources
- Sky Sports TV
- www.bbc.co.uk
- www.boston.com/sports
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