Ronnie Shields has confirmed with Beats, Boxing and Mayhem that he is no longer the trainer of heavyweight contender and former light-heavy and cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek (41-1, 27 KOs).
Shields, boxing’s 2003 Trainer of the Year, was in Adamek’s corner in April when the Polish fighter scored the biggest win of his heavyweight career by decisioning power-puncher Chris Arreola. Shields was instrumental in Adamek’s strategy of constant movement and straight rights to disrupt Arreola’s rhythm and prevent him from getting set to punch.
Shields found out the news throught a 3rd party, and was never told the reason for the decision despite their successful outing 2 months ago.
“You’ll have to ask his manager Ziggy Rozalski,” Shields explained. “I got a call from someone else [not] Tomasz or Ziggy telling me that he wasn’t coming to Houston explained. I have no idea what happened.”
Tomasz Adamek’s next fight is against former contender Michael Grant on August 21 at Newark’s Prudential Center. Grant was seen as a promising heavyweight in the late 90s, receiving a title shot against Lennox Lewis in 2000. At 6’7, he is seen as a litmus test for how well Adamek could cope with the size of the champion Klitschko brothers.
Adamek’s website currently lists his sole trainer as Roger Bloodworth. At press time, his promoter and manager Ziggy Rozalski could not be reached for comment.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 