Undefeated World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion Tomasz Adamek, who was noticeably absent during Don King's press conference in Chicago last Thursday announcing Valuev vs. Barrett and Adamek vs. Briggs II at Allstate Arena on Oct. 7, has dropped his lawsuit against King paving the way for the highly anticipated rematch with Australian slugger Paul "Hurricane" Briggs.
Adamek and Briggs met in Chicago last year on May 21 with the vacant WBC 175-pound title up for grabs. Few knew in advance the Pole and the Aussie would stand toe to toe for the full 12 rounds in a bloody struggle where it might have been better if one of the combatants had succumbed, but neither
did.
It took the judges to decide the contest. One scored it a draw while the remaining two favored Adamek, leaving him the majority-decision victor and a first-time world champion.
"My first fight with Briggs was the toughest of my career," Adamek said. "I broke my nose in training but I didn't tell anyone and fought through the pain.
"Don King has given me the chance to clearly show once and for all that I am superior to Briggs. Now I need the support of everyone in Chicago on Oct. 7, especially my Polish countrymen."
Adamek (30-0, 20 KOs) had filed a law suit against King, but the boxer agreed to drop it after King gave him the rematch with his WBC mandatory challenger Briggs (25-2, 18 KOs).
"I am happy to announce that I lived up to my end of the deal by delivering the rematch that Tomasz Adamek wanted with Paul Briggs and he has kept his part of the bargain by dropping the action against me," King said. "The only dispute left to be settled will be in the ring at Allstate Arena on
Oct. 7 and that is good news for boxing fans in Chicago."
Tickets priced at $250, $200, $100, $75, $50 and $35, with a limited number of golden circle seats available at $500, are on sale now at the Allstate Arena box office (847-635-6601), online at Ticketmaster.com or can be charged by phone by calling (312) 559-1212.
King also announced the addition of a heavyweight attraction featuring Mike Tyson conqueror Kevin "The Clones Colossus" McBride (34-4-1, 28 KOs) from Ireland, taking on Chicago's own once-beaten heavyweight contender Mike Mollo (16-1, 10 KOs)
The main event will showcase undefeated World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Nikolai "Giant Russian" Valuev (44-0, 32 KOs) making the second defense of his crown against New York's Monte "Two Gunz" Barrett (31-4, 17 KOs).