If Tomasz Adamek (44-2, 28, KOs) was the same size as Vitali Klitschko (43-2, 40 Kos) their heavyweight title fight on Sept. 10 in Wroclaw, Poland could have been one for the ages. But while Adamek showed his usual heart and courage, he was simply too small to compete with the 6-foot-8 Ukrainian WBC world champion. Klitschko finally ended the spirited, but one-sided affair in the 10^h round when Italian referee Massimo Barrovecchio called a halt to the bout at the 2:20 mark.

The 40-year old champion was in excellent shape for the fight and displayed a solid jab and accurate power punching. The 34-year-old Adamek was also ready to fight, but just couldn’t get in range to land many effective shots. He did land a few in the third and fourth rounds, but was consistently beaten to the punch for most of the fight. However, he did show that he had a good game plan in place by aiming half of his shots at Klitschko’s body, landing about 30 of them.

Adamek showed he has a great chin even though he was sent to the canvas in the sixth round and was wobbled on a couple of other occasions. Other than the Klitschko brothers, he could very well be the best heavyweight in the world right now. This is quite an achievement considering the former light heavyweight and cruiserweight world champion has had to bulk up to compete in the heavyweight division.

There are several intriguing fights out there for the Pole, with one of them being against England’s David Haye. In fact, if Haye possessed Adamek’s heart and desire, he could have possibly upset Wladimir Klitschko back in July. Instead, Haye was criticized for his lack of determination in that fight and he lost a lopsided unanimous decision.

But boxing’s a funny old game. Even though Haye embarrassed himself in the ring after shooting off his mouth for months prior to the fight, there’s a good chance that Vitali will take him on next. While an Adamek vs Wladimir Klitschko fight could be interesting, it’s the general consensus that Adamek’s just too small for him.

After the bout the 216-lb. Adamek more or less admitted the same and said the 243-lb. Klitschko was just too big and strong, but he never gave up trying at any time during the fight. He added that the champion was smarter than he thought, but nothing he did really surprised him.

Klitschko is far from being a perfect boxer, but his sheer size and mental makeup make him one of the best heavyweights of all time. He does lack a few things in the skills department, but other than his brother, it’s hard to see a heavyweight on the horizon who could beat make him taste defeat again before he retires.

WBC  heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (42-2, 39 KOs) will step outside of his comfort zone on Sept. 10 as he travels to Wroclaw, Poland to defend his title against Tomasz Adamek (44-1, 28 KOs). Klitschko of Ukraine fights mainly out of his adopted homeland of Germany these days  and the 40,000-strong crowd should give Adamek a decided boost at the brand new Stadion Miejski.

The 40-year-old Klitschko is attempting to successfully defend his belt for the eighth time in the HBO-broadcast bout. He originally won the crown by stopping Corrie Sanders in the eighth round back in 2004. He was  previously the WBO champ in 1999 and managed to defend it a total of three times before Chris Byrd made him retire after the ninth round in their 2000 bout due to a shoulder injury

Adamek is only 34 and is a former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion who’s going for a belt in his third different weight division. However, he’s a decided underdog in this fight even though he’s only been beaten once in his career, by Chad Dawson via a unanimous decision in 2007, and he’ll be fighting in front of his hometown fanatics.

Adamek is considered to have no chance by the majority of fans and boxing experts because of the size difference between him and the champion. While Adamek is a decent size at 6-foot-1 and 220 lbs, he’s considered a pretty small heavyweight by today’s standards, especially when stacked up against Klitschko, who’s about 6-foot-7 and usually weighs in at around 245 lbs.

But Klitschko suffered one of his two career defeats to another small heavyweight in Chris Byrd, who was only 6 feet and 210 lbs. Adamek has been fighting some of the heaviest and biggest heavyweights around in preparation for this bout by taking on the likes of Kevin McBride, Vinny Madalone, Michael Grant, Chris Arreola, Jason Estrada, and Andrew Golota, since he stepped up to the heavyweight division in 2009. He beat them all pretty handily expect for Arreola, who he took a majority decision from.

In fact, when you look at the heavyweights Adamek has faced, they’re just as good as Klitschko’s most recent opponents, and perhaps even better in some cases. The only common opponent they have is Arreola, who Klitschko stopped in 10 rounds.

Adamek seems to have lost some of his power as a heavyweight though, but it’s unlikely that his game plan is to go in and try and knock the champion out. The Polish challenger will likely take a hit-and-run approach and depend on his solid chin to get him through. Adamek can easily be lured into brawls however, and that could be one of Klitschko’s tactics.

For inspiration, Adamek just has to watch tapes of the Byrd-Klitschko matchup to see how a good, smaller boxer can slay the giant. If Adamek’s chin holds out and he can use his speed to get in and out, he definitely has a shot at adding the heavyweight title to his resume.

It’s a big if though.

You’re never going to hit a home run if you don’t swing the bat. You’re never going to score a basket if you don’t shoot the ball and you’re never going to beat Wladimir Klitschko, let alone knock him out, unless you throw punches.

Former WBA champ David Haye should have known this going into his heavyweight unification bout with the IBF, IBO, and WBO titleholder Klitschko in a rain-drenched soccer stadium in Hamburg, Germany on July 2. But it turns out he didn’t have much of a plan other than running off his trash-talking mouth for several months prior to the bout. He landed a lot more one-liners than he did punches.

It shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise though as this never had the makings of a good fight. It was either going to be a great one or a complete dud. And unfortunately, we got the latter because of the effort of both men in the ring. For all of the hype and buildup, both Haye (25-2, 23 KOs) and Klitschko (55-3, 49 Kos) to a lesser extent, deflated the crowd with their defensive styles and this is reflected in the scores of 117-109, 116-110, and 118-108, all for Klitschko.

Even though Haye had a slight reach advantage he was constantly lunging in when trying to land his right-handed ‘Hayemaker.’ He was much more effective when he elected to use his left jab, but it wasn’t often enough. His one shining moment came late in the fight when he nailed Klitschko with a right hand in the 12th round, forcing him to hold on, but he didn’t follow it up.

Klitschko didn’t land any significant blows either, but was awarded with a knockdown in the 11^th round, but this was basically a way for referee Genaro Rodriguez to punish Haye for constantly falling to the canvas after lunging at Klitschko. The big Ukrainian did help him to the mat a few times though by pushing down on the back of Haye’s neck and he was deducted a point for his actions in the eighth round. After the fight Haye said he had a broken fourth-toe on his right foot. However, being a right-handed fighter it shouldn’t have affected him too much, especially when others have fought with broken jaws and hands.

While this fight was a huge disappointment, the sad part about it was that it was actually one of the most competitive Klitschko’s been involved in over the past three and a half years. Haye took him the distance and actually threw and landed more punches than many of Klitschko’s most recent opponents such as Ruslan Chagaev, Hasim Rahman, Eddie Chambers, and Calvin Brock. Haye and Sultan Ibragimov have been the only two to last the distance in Klitschko’s last 11 fights.

While Klitschko can be blamed for his part and lack of action in this fight he and his 39-year-old brother, WBC Champion Vitali, can’t be blamed for the sorry state of the heavyweight division. There’s not really much out there these days. In fact, the best of the lot is probably Tomasz Adamek, who will fight Vitali in his Polish homeland in September. But like Haye, he’s not a natural heavyweight, being a former light-heavy and cruiserweight champ.

At the age of 35, it’s conceivable that Wladimir could hold onto his title for another five years. As for the 30-year-old Haye, he might retire or could possibly take a few more fights to fatten up his bank account. But one thing’s for sure, it’s highly unlikely that he’s ever going to get his hands on another heavyweight title belt. In fact, it doesn’t look like any of the current heavyweights will until the Klitschkos hang up their gloves.