Tomasz Adamek Likely Headed to Heavyweight Division

[The Hammer]

"Reach" can be deceptive since it's usually measured as wingspan opposed to actual arm length. Wingspan includes the width of the back and finger length. So if someone has a wide back their wingspan could be longer then their opponent yet they could have shorter arms.

Very true, and this is why even though the broad-shouldered Wlad has a longer "reach" or wingspan than Chris Byrd, according to the HBO statistics given on Bryd-Wlad II, they have the same arm length!

HBO gave Ray Austin's arms as 2" longer than Wlad's, despite Austin's reach being 1" shorter at 80".

Many of Wlad's opponents who had a similar or shorter "reach" had significantly longer arms: Jefferson, Thompson, Rahman, etc. I don't know about the opponents who were not shown on HBO, but I imagine it's similar.

[Walt Liquor]

One of my favorite fights ever, the infighting between Toney and Jirov was spectacular. I can't believe Toney took all those body shots that fight and wore Jirov down. I think a prime Jirov takes Adamek, but I'm not sure if he can take Adamek's short right. Being that Jirov is a lefty and fights close, he would eat more than a few of um.

[Walt Liquor]

Very true, and this is why even though the broad-shouldered Wlad has a longer "reach" or wingspan than Chris Byrd, according to the HBO statistics given on Bryd-Wlad II, they have the same arm length!

HBO gave Ray Austin's arms as 2" longer than Wlad's, despite Austin's reach being 1" shorter at 80".

Many of Wlad's opponents who had a similar or shorter "reach" had significantly longer arms: Jefferson, Thompson, Rahman, etc. I don't know about the opponents who were not shown on HBO, but I imagine it's similar.

In my opinion, reach shouldn't be the length of the arms or from the back, reach is a component of your skill. Being able to extend at the right time is so difficult and some fighters can't do it. I fight this 5'6'' Phillipino with way shorter arms than me, but dude seems like his arms never end, because he extends fully and knows exactly when to pull back.

reach measurements are a decent start, but they are not accurate as to someone's range when fighting in my experience.

For

[βetamax]

Very true, and this is why even though the broad-shouldered Wlad has a longer "reach" or wingspan than Chris Byrd, according to the HBO statistics given on Bryd-Wlad II, they have the same arm length!

HBO gave Ray Austin's arms as 2" longer than Wlad's, despite Austin's reach being 1" shorter at 80".

Many of Wlad's opponents who had a similar or shorter "reach" had significantly longer arms: Jefferson, Thompson, Rahman, etc. I don't know about the opponents who were not shown on HBO, but I imagine it's similar.

Look, reach CAN be an advantage but 1-2" arm length probably isn't making that much of a difference, especially if their about the same height. The problem is that you always to point to reach advantage as being a determining factor yet you never point out that, for example, Wlad's 5" inch height advantage (and general size advantage) made quite a difference in the Chagaev fight since he literally couldn't even reach him upstairs. It's harder to punch up against a taller fighter and a taller fighter can get better leverage punching down. Of course being tall isn't an automatic advantage just as arm length isn't an automatic advantage, you have use these tools effectively and Wlad does use his height to his advantage. I don't knock him for something he has no control over and you should do the same when it comes to fighters who might have a longer reach.

[warp1432]

doubtful...

more money at heavy!

My ass. Unless he were to fight Golota, he would not be making more then 500k or a million (depending on who you want to believe) to fight Hopkins...Also he'd probably make more money in a Cunningham rematch anyway.

[joe strong]

its sad that tomasz adamek will never get the full respect he deserves from the americans because he is from europe. i mean he has won a belt in light heavyweight and then become the number one in cruiserweight and now moving up to heavyweight. if he beats a few heavyweights he is defenitley a great fighter and hall of famer.

hall of famer? You obviously hate Americans because Hopkins offered him a fight & hbo was going to pick it up but adamek turned it down & thought he should be paid on par with bhop! That's a joke! He never even beat the best light heavyweights let alone Hopkins.he beat Cunningham(who is good)& banks.big deal! I like adsmek & he's a tough guy but I think you are getting ahead of yourself calling him a hofer.where are you from? Since you claim no European gets respect.how about golota who use to sell out MSG.he hasn't beat enough top flight guys in any division he fought in.i'm glad he's moving up because it will add another solid fighter in the mix.come on thou,your standards are pretty low & you are most certainly bias towards Americans.every fighter gets no respect according to you.respect is earned not giving away like candy & adamek hasn't done enough YET to be vconsidered an alltime great.

[dino]

Adamek is going to take some serious beatings at heavyweight, he's small, YET unlike other small successfull heavyweights, he's slow and robotic. Klitchko vs Adamek is murder

[11player]

Adamek gotta have some patience, he's getting ahead of himself if he's planning on making this move permanent.

If he is only after cashing in with the Golota fight, then he is right, he deserves it. Maybe a few jumps at HW for the right fight wouldn't hurt either.

After that he would come back to CW for the rematch everyone wants to see against Cunningham.

Adamek is a freaking hard fight for any of the top names out there, that's why BHop and Roy Jr. didn't go for it and many are avoiding him.

There are still good options for Adamek at Cruiser. Huck is about to become champ and he is not afraid to step it up. Afolabi is another guy who could accept a fight with Adamek. Once the WBC and WBA title snag clears, that might be a chance for a unification there too.

He gotta have some patience bc it won't be long till the major networks open their schedule for him.

[Jim Jeffries]

Look, reach CAN be an advantage but 1-2" arm length probably isn't making that much of a difference, especially if their about the same height. The problem is that you always to point to reach advantage as being a determining factor yet you never point out that, for example, Wlad's 5" inch height advantage (and general size advantage) made quite a difference in the Chagaev fight since he literally couldn't even reach him upstairs. It's harder to punch up against a taller fighter and a taller fighter can get better leverage punching down. Of course being tall isn't an automatic advantage just as arm length isn't an automatic advantage, you have use these tools effectively and Wlad does use his height to his advantage. I don't knock him for something he has no control over and you should do the same when it comes to fighters who might have a longer reach.

2 in each in arm length (4 in in wingspan) makes a considerable difference, much more so than a few inches in height. We'll hear about Chagaev forever, because he's one of the smallest guys Wlad's ever faced, and forget about guy's Wlad's beaten his size or bigger, like McCline, Austin, Thompson, etc. But Chagaev didn't seem to have much trouble making up for a huge size deficit against Felix Savon (twice) in the Amateurs or Valuev in the pros.

Reach makes more difference than height in boxing, and I'm not talking about the wingspan listed on Boxrec, I'm talking about arm length, measured from the armpit to the end of the fist. Wlad's isn't very long (26 in) for his height, hell it's the same as Mayweather's.

[Mikhnienko]

Austin is a legit 6'6 and TT 6'5, no way Vova is 6'5, he's prob 6'7 and Vitali 6'8


And while i'm excited to see it and am a huge Adamek fan i suspect his Heavyweight run will end up similar to Jirov's. I think Jirov was the better fighter but he was waaay more past it than Adamek is now.

He has a very good chin but i think some heavies could crack it. His right hand will still do damage.