by T.K. Stewart

 

Jason "Big Six" Estrada who hails from Providence, Rhode Island will step into the ring versus Tomasz Adamek on Feb. 6 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

 

While much has been made of Adamek's rise to heavyweight and his recent success against Andrew Golota, Estrada says he isn't worried about what the former light heavyweight titlist and cruiserweight champion brings to the table.

 

"This is something I've been hoping for my whole life," says the 29-year-old Estrada who sports a record of 16-2, 4 KOs. "I finally get a chance to fight for a real belt [IBF International title] this is not a toy, this is the real thing. I'm very happy about that. Secondly, I really honestly think that Tomasz made a big, big, big mistake. He's going off the Golota win, who I think in his day, was one of the best heavyweights in the world. But the Golota that he beat is not the same Golota from '96 that fought Riddick Bowe. So for me, that's not really a fight that I would see as justification to use to fight me."

 

Estrada and Adamek are about equal in height as both men are approximately 6-foot-1, but Estrada routinely weighs in the mid-240 range whereas Adamek scaled 214 1/2 for his bout against Golota in October. Estrada has also been in the ring with some very large heavyweights such as Charles Shufford, Lance Whitaker and Alexander Povetkin.

 

"I've heard the stories coming out from Adamek's camp about how they're going to do what nobody else can do - which is put me on my ass," said Estrada. "That's not going to happen. Two-hundred and seventy-five amateur bouts - it's never happened. In the gym, in sparring - it's never happened. In the street - it's never happened.There's nobody that's going to put me on my ass. I work too hard in the gym, my defense is too good and I'm too fast for him. He's basing his whole thing on how much faster he's going to be than I am."

 

But Estrada believes if that is Adamek's line of thinking, then the Polish fighter is sadly mistaken.

 

"Look, I've seen fast," explains the confident Estrada. "I've worked with Eddie Chambers, I've worked with Matt Godfrey. Now these guys are fast. I've watched Adamek's fights and I've studied them back and forth - forth and back. Honestly, I have to put the DVD on fast forward to make him even as fast as me. That's about equal then, if I put the DVD on fast-forward. Honestly, he's a good fighter at light heavy, he's a good fighter at cruiser - but at heavyweight I think he made a mistake."

 

Estrada has impressive amateur credentials and he was three-time US Amateur super heavyweight champion in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He won the gold medal in the 2003 Pan Am Games and represented the USA in the 2004 Olympics before being ousted in the second round of the Games.

 

"This fight is the opportunity of a lifetime for me," says Estrada. "I get to fight on the East coast, close to home and for the first time I have eight weeks notice to train for a fight. It's usually three or four weeks and I never have had this long to train for a fight. This is great for me. I don't have a problem working hard, especially with an opportunity like this."

 

E-mail: tkstewartboxing@gmail.com