Please fasten your seat belts, turn on all electronic devices and adjust your seat to the lounge position, an intense month of boxing kicks off this weekend. September features some of the best fighters in the world in a variety of weight classes. Saturday the Heavyweight division is on full display with Vitali Klitschko and 3 contenders to the throne all stepping in the ring.
The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey will be a sea of red in support for their adopted hometown hero Tomasz Adamek(46-2 28KO’s). He makes his bid to get back in the title picture as he takes on Travis Walker(39-7-1 31KO’s) in a scheduled 12 round affair.
Adamek is attempting to make it 3 straight victories since a 10th round TKO loss to aforementioned WBC Champion Vitali Klitschko in Sept. of last year. The last time we saw Adamek he looked semi unimpressive against “Fast” Eddie Chambers. Yes Tomasz pulled off a unanimous decision with scores of 119-109(I don’t know what fight Alan Rubenstein was watching) and 116-112 from the other two judges, but how he couldn’t stop Chambers baffles me.
From the middle of the 1st round on, “Fast” Eddie had to fight with only his right due to a bicep injury he suffered. Regardless of Chambers talent, with fighting against only one arm I feel Adamek should have stopped him or at least completely dominated. Nonetheless Adamek has won 15 out of his last 16 fights.
Though Walker won’t be the stiffest competition Adamek has faced he will still be a handful. He’s a 6’4 1/2 monster with world class power. He’s coming into this weekend 5-4 over his last 9 fights. His last outing was a 6th round TKO of Kali Meehan.
The WBC has Adamek ranked 9th while Walker is ranked #12 by the WBA. This fight is an IBF eliminator for the #2 spot, currently the IBF ranks Adamek #4 and Walker 13th.
As we know Adamek used to reign in the Cruiserweight division. There he faced off in arguably the best fight the division ever witnessed against Steve Cunningham(24-4 12KO’s) who is also appearing on this Saturdays card.
Cunningham is making his Heavyweight debut versus Jason Gavern(21-10-4 10KO’s). Cunningham moved up a weight class coming off back to back losses to Yoan Pablo Hernandez; which is a move he says he and trainer Nazim Richardson were looking to make before the 1st Hernandez bout.
I attended his media workout in Philadelphia’s James Shuler Memorial Gym, and even with the added weight Cunningham’s frame looked his normal machine like. As he added the weight, which is currently at 18 extra pounds, he gained some power and still has very quick hands. His footwork is going to be a huge advantage over any Heavyweight in a giant sized division.
Gavern will be a solid measuring stick for Cunningham. A 2-3 record dating back to the beginning of 2011 doesn’t do any justice to show the toughness Gavern has. This will be the first step for Cunningham getting his rematch with Adamek in the new weight class.
Also on the undercard undefeated Philadelphia Heavyweight Bryant “By-By” Jennings(14-0 6KO’s) will be squaring off with Chris Koval(25-9 18KO’s). Jennings along with Seth Mitchell is considered one of the top American’s in the division. This will be the fourth fight for Jennings this year. Through his career Jennings has shown speed, solid footwork and power at times. Add how active he stays on top of those attributes and we have a future champion in the making. Jennings is ranked #8 by the IBF.
Kathy Duva Main Events, Peltz Boxing and Ziggy Promotions have put together some card this weekend. Along with the fights mentioned above we have a chance to see up and comer lightweight “Dynamite” Karl Dargan(10-0 5KO’s), who is another fighter in Nazim Richardson’s legendary stable. He will be back in the ring after a 13 month layoff against Jesse Carradine(8-1-1 4KO’s).
My predictions for the card shouldn’t shock anyone. Starting with Dargan, I see his ridiculous speed being too much for Carradine. I expect the fight to go the full 6 rounds and I also don’t see Dargan losing a round. Bryant Jennings will get through Koval with no problem. He’s a superior talent compared to Koval. With the weak chin Koval has the end result will be the 15th win in Jennings career and the 7th knockout.
Steve Cunningham will impress us all as he gets his first victory in his Heavyweight run. Gavern won’t go anywhere all fight but that will be the reason Cunningham will get his chance to show off his talents. I think the fight will go the distance with Cunningham winning at least 8 of the 10 rounds. In the main event Tomasz Adamek will defend his IBF North American title while out boxing Walker en route to a unanimous decision. In winning this fight Adamek will be in line for a date will a Klitschko, but this time it will be Wladimir. Wealth TV will be airing this card; the first fight begins at 2pm.
