Tomasz Adamek

Tomasz "Tomek" Adamek (born 1 December 1976) is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2018.

Adamek made his professional boxing debut on 13 March 1999 in Manchester, England against Israel Khumalo.

He won by TKO in the first round.

He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC light heavyweight title from 2005 to 2007, and the IBF and The Ring magazine cruiserweight titles from 2008 to 2009.

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.

He also held the IBO cruiserweight title in 2007, and challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2011.

BoxRec ranks Adamek as the third greatest Polish boxer of all time, pound for pound.

He is the first Polish boxer to win The Ring title.

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).

He defeated Josip Jalusic on 29 December 2007 in Germany.

On 19 April 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.

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 11 July 2009, with the referee stopping the bout at the ring physician's advice between rounds four and five.

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

On 24 October 2009 in Łódź, Poland, Adamek defeated Andrew Golota by TKO in the fifth round to win the IBF "International" Heavyweight Title.

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.

After losing to Dawson, Adamek moved up to cruiserweight to beat Luis Andres Pineda by technical knockout in round seven.

Then, on 6 February 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 24 April 2010, at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, 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.

In 2010 he was the first Polish winner of the "Muhammad Ali Athlete Award" at the Giant Awards diner in Chicago.

Adamek defeated veteran American Michael Grant by unanimous decision on 21 August 2010.

In his first fight of 2011, Adamek defeated Irishman Kevin McBride by a wide unanimous decision.

On 10 September 2011 Adamek faced the WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in Poland, losing by TKO in the 10th round, in the first ever PPV fight in Polish TV history.

The referee stopped the bout after Adamek received punishing blows and was ruled out, as he was no longer able to defend himself.

Adamek was born in Żywiec, Poland, as of 2012 he resided in Kearny, New Jersey.