Fights, in any division, are so much more interesting when they have a real significance to them. Even the dull fights turn out to be interesting if their is something at stake. On March 15th there is something at stake, two professional boxing careers.
That's because a loss for either Poland's Tomasz Adamek (49-2, 29) or Ukraine's Vyacheslav Glazkov (16-0-1, 11) could well see them thrown on the boxing scrap heap. That's despite their impressive looking records.
For Adamek there really is little way back from a loss. The popular Pole has been one of boxing's most exciting to watch warriors of the past decade as he climbed from Light Heavyweight champion to Heavyweight contender. Unfortunately in that time he has taken a lot of punishment and at 37 his body is showing serious signs of wear and tear.
As for Glazkov things aren't as obvious but yet they are. He was very fortunate last year to score a draw with Malik Scott and although he's unbeaten many do view the Scott bout as an "unofficial" loss. An official loss here to Adamek would be very difficult to bounce back from especially when you consider the age of Adamek.
This bout, a true crossroads bout, has it's importance added to by the fact the IBF North American Heavyweight title is on the line. The title might be little more than a trinket but it will help ensure the winner is featured highly on the IBF's rankings and moves them towards a world title fight. It's possible that the men will view a possible IBF title fight as the key motivation to winning, though we'd imagine that both would be motivated by know what a loss will do their career.
(Photo courtesy of http://www.mainevents.com)