Tomasz Adamek

Early life and amateur career

Adamek was born in Żywiec, Poland. He began boxing at age 12 in boxing club Góral Żywiec with his trainers Stefan Gawron and Stanisław Orlicki.

Professional career

Adamek made his professional boxing debut on 13 March 1999 in Manchester, England against Israel Khumalo. He won by TKO in the first round.

WBC light-heavyweight champion

Adamek won the vacant WBC light-heavyweight title defeating Paul "Firepower" Briggs by majority decision on 21 May 2005. The fight was described by some as one of the most brutal in recent memory, as Briggs suffered a large cut above his left eye early in the fight and Adamek bled profusely from his nose for much of the fight as well. Adamek tended to be the aggressor and won the fight.

On 15 October 2005, he defended his title against German boxer Thomas Ulrich by knockout in Round 6.

He then defended his title in a rematch with Paul Briggs in 2006, again winning by majority decision. After the fight Jim Lampley said that Adamek vs Briggs I and II was the best combined 24 rounds he has ever seen.

Adamek vs. Dawson

Undefeated Adamek with 31-0 (21 KO) lost his first fight by unanimous decision to Chad Dawson on 3 February 2007. During that fight, Adamek was knocked down in the seventh round; this was only the second time in his career he has been knocked down (upon slow-motion replay, Adamek was shown to have tripped on Dawson's foot after the body shot). Adamek, well behind on points, provided some drama by suddenly dropping Dawson in the 10th round but Dawson fended off the onslaught that followed, and won a clear-cut points decision. Immediately following the loss to Dawson, Adamek decided to move up in the cruiserweight division.

Cruiserweight

After losing to Dawson, Adamek moved up to cruiserweight to beat Luis Andres Pineda by technical knockout in round seven. He defeated Josip Jalusic on 29 December 2007 in Germany.

Adamek vs. Bell

On April 19, 2008 in Poland, Adamek fought former undisputed cruiserweight champion O'Neil Bell in an IBF Cruiserweight title eliminator. Adamek floored Bell in round one and had good success by outboxing Bell. Bell opted not to come out for round eight, citing that he felt dizzy and ill.

IBF and lineal cruiserweight champion

In December 2008 he fought the then reigning champion Steve Cunningham at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Knocking a game Cunningham down three times, he won the IBF and vacant lineal cruiserweight titles in a bout many thought was the fight of the year.

Adamek successfully defended his title against Johnathon Banks on 27 February 2009, at the Prudential Center in Newark. He won with a brutal TKO in the 8th Round. He then went on to defeat Bobby Gunn before a large crowd at the Prudential Center on July 11, 2009, with the referee stopping the bout at the ring physician's advice between rounds four and five.

He vacated the IBF title on October 18, 2009, choosing to move up to the heavyweight division.

Heavyweight

On October 24, 2009 in Łódź, Poland, Adamek defeated Andrew Golota by TKO in the fifth round to win the IBF "International" Heavyweight Title. Then, on February 7, 2010 in Newark's Prudential Center he defeated Jason Estrada by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.

Adamek (40-1; 27 KO) then took on fellow heavyweight contender Chris Arreola (28-1; 25 KO) on April 24, 2010, at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California California. The bout was televised as part of Boxing After Dark. The Polish fighter won a twelve-round majority decision, with the scores of 114-114, 115-113 and 117-111. A day before the bout, Arreola weighed 250½ pounds, while Adamek was 217.

Adamek defeated veteran American Michael Grant by unanimous decision on August 21, 2010. In his first fight of 2011, Adamek defeated Irishman Kevin McBride by a wide unanimous decision.

Adamek vs. Vitali Klitschko

On September 10, 2011 Adamek faced the WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in Poland, losing by TKO in the 10th round. The referee stopped the bout after Adamek received punishing blows and was ruled out, as he was no longer able to defend himself.

Adamek returned on March 24, 2012 after signing a contract with Main Events. Adamek defeated by unanimous decision "Dominican Dynamite" Nagy Aguilera.

He next fought on the date of June 16, 2012 against Eddie Chambers in Prudential Center and won by unanimous decision.

Adamek defeated Travis Walker on September 8, 2012 via fifth round technical knockout at 1:51 due to a stopage by the referee.

Adamek defeated Steve Cunningham in a very close and somewhat controversial split decision on December 22, 2012. Initially, the result was a draw, but after noticing a mathematical miscalculation in the judges scorecards, Adamek was declared the winner.

On March 15, 2014 Adamek was defeated by Vyacheslav Glazkov and lost his IBF North America Heavyweight title by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.