I know there are better candidates. But he fought in three divisions winning world titles in two of them and being a respectable contender in the third. I don’t know if he has any “ great “ wins but he’s got a LOT of “ good “ ones. Five of six losses came when he was past it.
Yes.. he was a champion at LHW & CW & became a legit contender at HW.. how many recent fighter's can say that? His fights with Briggs & Cunningham were FOTY contenders..
I'm a big Hall guy. I don't get people who are strict with Hall of Fames. But no I don't think so. Adameks one of the most groteskly overrated fighters in HW. And I mean overrated in the literal sense that he was ranked high for no reason. He was a regional level fighter at LHW and HW who spent his prime defending regional level belts. People make threads wondering if Wilder is a HOF because his 10 title defenses weren't good. Well Adameks 1-2 with a majority decision win against those guys. Those were Wilders 3 worst title opponents or 3 of the worst 4. And people are considering putting a guy below the level of Wilders title defenses into the HOF? Because hes technically a LHW/CW champ? My problem with hyping being a 2 division champion is its not about the matchups and requires one extra fight. With so many weight classes and belts in this era that feat doesn't mean anything by itself. It can but its about the fights. A common reason champions switch weight classes is they lose a belt in one and go to one they can contend in. Thats what happened here. LHW)Won and defended vacant belt in matchups that were clearly not major world title worthy. He lost clearly the first time he fought a top LHW in Dawson. CW)Has 3 major title wins. I don't follow CW and tweener divisions. Its 3 wins. Cunninghams the only one that stands out and he barely beat him. Cunningham did well against Fury he also lost to the Bridgerweight champ. HW)Has 1 elite win over Chambers and was otherwise a regional level fighter who got rated in the top 5 4 years in a row going as high as 3rd. Golota was done. Grant wasn't totally washed yet but again regional level. Adamek lost to 7 of his 10 best opponents and most of the losses weren't close. When I bring up fighters winning the NABF/USBA double people tell me "no one cares". Well Adamek won neither. No world title shots normal or interim. No silver title, no regular title, no intercontinetal title. No shots at any of these titles. Minor orgs like the IBO. Nope(at HW). He was a regional champion ranked in the top 5 for years. Adameks beat Arreola who couldn't beat Stiverne. Throughout history theres many hundreds of guys who could have beaten Arreola for the HW belt in 2014. Adameks at the bottom of this group. Adameks not bad or even a "journeyman" that people like to label fighters. Hes a borderline title contender and regional level fighter who happened to hold belts in 2 weight classes because of situations. But I've never seen someone with this sort of resume get mentioned for the HOF.
He was a very good fighter but to me he falls just short. With that said, he might just get in on a down year.
Adamek was a very good fighter and I think he'll be inducted into the IBHOF one day, especially considering that the entry criteria are less stringent than they once were. There are fighters like Mancini, Gatti and Pazienza who wouldn't have been inducted into the IBHOF before. Before Adamek, I hope Castillo, Casamayor, and Freitas are inducted (if Chico Corrales is inducted, I think it's right that they be inducted too).
I don't have strong feelings against him being in, based on precedent. I considered him one of the top...20 or maybe 15 PFP fighters of his time for a brief period. But I also don't think of him as a legitimately great fighter at any time. He was a great example of someone who wasn't just good but was certainly not great. But he earned a lot of popularity and respect. It's not crazy to have him in. That said, I wouldn't be the one telling everyone he needs to be in either. It's not a travesty if he's not, so much as it is questionable who already is.
Very good fighter who showed up in shape and ready to fight. His 2 bouts with Paul Briggs are required to watch. Absolutely savage.
Poland Boxing HOF? Absolutely, first-ballot. New Jersey HOF? Yeah, probably. IBHOF - eh, bubble-case at best.