Tomasz Adamek Decisions Jason Estrada, Rises to 40-1

Polish-born, former light heavyweight (175 pounds) and cruiserweight (200 pounds) champion, Tomasz Adamek, earned Saturday night's 12-round, unanimous decision over former U.S. Olympian, Jason Estrada, for his ninth straight win, and his second victory as a heavyweight before a partisan crowd in at the Prudential Center in Neward, N.J.

A 33-year-old Jersey City resident, Adamek (pictured at right) rose to 40-1, with 27 knockouts, even as he failed to earn his second straight KO of a heavyweight.


"I was hit couple of times hard, sure – but this is a part of boxing. But none of his punches made me change my tactics or get sacred -- not at all. I knew he didn't have a knockout punch. I weighed 220 pounds for this fight, probably an ideal weight for me," said Adamek.

"I was prepared for 12 rounds, and pretty early in the fight, I realized this is what would happen. So I had to conserve more energy, maybe be less aggressive than in my previous fights," said Adamek. "I don't even want to get into these Jason assumptions that he was robbed. I think I won by four, maybe five points."

Adamek debuted in boxing's largest division with October's fifth-round knockout of former world heavyweight title contender, Andrew Golota (41-8-1, 33 KOs), whom he floored in the first, and, fifth rounds, despite being out-weighed, 214-to-256.

On Saturday night, Adamek weighed a career high 220.5, but still yielded 17 pounds to the 237-pound Estrada.

"My trainer, Andrzej Gmitruk, wanted me to be more boxer than puncher, and was screaming at me in the corner," said Adamek. "But how can I fight differently when I have 10,000 of my red and white fans screaming for me to do just that? They pay good money to see an entertaining fight, not some boring, slow guys throwing 10 punches a round."

Adamek won, 115-113, 116-112, and, 118-110, respectively, on the cards of judges Steve Weisfeld, Joseph Pasquale, and Larry Layton.

"It was the best Jason Estrada I've ever seen in my life. He was 50 percent better today, than he when he fought a top three heavyweight like Alexander Povetkin. Quick, with a good defense and a very hard head," said Adamek.

"It was extremely difficult to locate precise punches because of his defense. Maybe, I should have used more than three punch combinations, maybe risk a little more?," said Adamek.

"I wanted to do it, but my trainer, Andrzej Gmitruk, was telling me all the time in the corner to be more boxer than puncher," said Adamek. "He wanted me to avoid his punches first, then use different temp to throw him of his strategy. It was another test in the heavyweight division versus a boxer who was very difficult to fight."

The 29-year-old Estrada slipped to 16-3, with four knockouts.

"If everyone in this room were completely honest with themselves, you would all admit that I got robbed. I mean I got played. I might as well have had a gun pointed to my head. At best, I give Adamek three of the twelve rounds," said Estrada (pictured at right, with Adamek).

"I seriously think the last judge doesn't need to judge anymore. Yeah I'm angry. I fought my a** off. I trained harder than I ever have. I was in the best shape I've ever been in," said Estrada. "People talked about me possibly running out of gas, but I never did. All he [Adamek] did was run. If I learned one thing tonight it was that I can't go into anyone's hometown to fight."

Adamek has not lost since February of 2007, when he was dethroned as WBC, 175-pound titlist following a unanimous decision loss to Chad Dawson.

Adamek could next enter the ring on April 24 opposite 6-foot-4, Chris Arreola (28-1, 25 KOs), of Riverside, Calif., a 28-year-old who weighed a career-high 263 pounds for last month's fourth-round knockout of Brian Minto (34-3, 21 KOs).

"I have couple of words for those who are saying that I cannot fight Arreola because he is a much better puncher than Estrada. First of all, every fight is different, and anyone who knows about boxing can say 'Estrada hit him, but Arreola will do the same, and harder," said Adamek.

"We don't know that. Maybe it will be easier for me to avoid punches from Arreola," said Adamek. "And maybe it will be easier for me to hit him. We just don't know, but won't it be interesting to see?"