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Sports

Adamek unanimously outpoints McBride

Associated Press
Published | Updated

NEWARK, N.J. – Top heavyweight contender Tomasz Adamek took a step toward a championship showdown with one of the Klitschko brothers, unanimously outpointing Kevin McBride on Saturday night.

Adamek (44-1 with 28 knockouts) has a deal in place to face either Vitaly or Vladimir Klitschko for either of their heavyweight championship titles sometime in September in Poland.

"When I moved to heavyweight, my dream was to get to fight for the heavyweight championship," Adamek said. "Now, I've made it. I'll get that chance. I want that chance. This is my chance and I'm ready."

Adamek dominated from the outset, using his speed to outscore and outpunch his opponent, winning every round on all three judges' scorecards. Judge Robert Grosso had the fight 120-107 in favor of the Polish-born Adamek, who now lives in Kearny, N.J., while judges Lynn Carter and Larry Hazzard Jr. had the fight 119-108.

McBride (35-9-1), an Irish fighter who lives in Massachusetts, entered the ring at a whopping 285 pounds, 70 pounds heavier than Adamek.

McBride, who sent former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson into retirement in 2005, appeared out of shape and was sloppy for the entire fight, resorting to tactics such as pushing Adamek's head down, throwing rabbit punches and even stepping on Adamek's foot in the 11th round.

"Tomasz proved to me that he was a warrior," said McBride, who said after the fight that he would more than likely retire from boxing. "He was hard to catch. I thought I could catch him later on, but I couldn't get him. I wish I had another 12 rounds and maybe I could have caught him. Maybe if I lost 20 more pounds, I could have caught him. Speed kills and he has a lot of speed. I respect the man. I knew I was being hit."

McBride was only competitive in the sixth round. The rest of the fight belonged to Adamek. The crowd of 7,653 was heavily pro-Adamek, chanting "Polska! Polska!" throughout the fight.

"This was a very good test," Adamek said. "Every round in the ring is a good test for me. It's like gold. I hit him hard, but I just needed to stay quick. To me, speed is power."

Adamek's trainer, Roger Bloodworth, thought that the fight was a good tuneup.

"Tomasz executed this fight perfectly," Bloodworth said. "I thought he put on a perfect show. But this was for Kevin McBride. We'll have some work to do before September."