Boxing In Poland: Golota And Adamek win Comeback Fights

Saturday night at The Spodek in Katowice, Poland, former WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Tomasz Adamek and four time former world heavyweight title challenger Andrew Golota both won comeback fights in front of a roaring packed house.

Adamek put on 23 pounds and won the IBO Cruiserweight title with a sharp punching effort over Panama’s Luis Pineda.

Despite moving up a weight division, Adamek still towered over the stocky Pineda and the Pole used his advantage well, raking the former WBO Latino and WBA Fedelatin titlist with strafing combinations that had the Central American at a loss.

The heavy handed Pineda couldn’t crack Adamek’s tight gloved defense and by the seventh, the former light heavyweight champion was putting on a boxing display, pummeling Pineda on the ropes, and forcing a late round stoppage.

Adamek, 32-1 (22), gets back to winning ways at while Pindea loses his second in a row and falls to 21-6 (18).

Taking two years off following a failed WBO title bid against Lamon Brewster did Andrew Golota, 39-6-1 (32), good as the Chicago based Warsaw man made short work of American trial horse Jeremy Bates.

Bates, 21-14-1 (18), came into the contest with four straight losses, three by stoppage, as well as 15 pounds above his general fighting weight.

The extra baggage certainly didn’t help Bates, who was giving away six inches in height to the massive Golota, now 39 years of age.

Golota simply had too much firepower for the American import as Bates hit the canvas in the second and was soon out of the fight when the big Pole resumed his efforts.

On the undercard, the career of Wroclaw lightweight Matt Zegan, 37-3 (21), took a serious dent when the 31 year old absorbed his second consecutive loss, a points decision at the hands of Mexican journeyman Noel Cortez, 17-13 (12).