In 2009, the Polish heavyweight star of yesteryear Andrew Golota “passed the torch” to the flag bearer of the next era Tomasz Adamek, who dismantled Golota in a fifth-round technical knockout.

On Saturday, it was Adamek’s turn to pass the torch to the next generation of Polish heavyweight fan favorite as he lost a unanimous decision to Artur Szpilka at the Krakow Arena in Krakow, Poland. Two judged scored it 96-94 for the southpaw from Wieliczka, Poland while the third saw it wider at 98-92.

Afterwards, Adamek (49-4, 29 knockouts), who is 12 years older than his adversary at 37, was quoted by Polish boxing reporter Przemek Garczarczyk as indicating that his run as a top fighter had come to a close. “I think this is over for me.”

Szpilka (17-1, 12 KOs), who like Adamek is based in New Jersey now, started the fight the quicker of the two, getting off with his right jabs and hooks on Adamek. Adamek caught up to Szpilka in the fifth with a series of straight right hands that tested the resolve of Szpilka, who was coming off a 10^th-round TKO loss to Bryant Jennings in his last bout in January.

Adamek continued to stalk, using his three pound (226¼ to 223) weight advantage to look for a big shot that could turn his fortunes around. The eighth looked like it could be the beginning of a comeback for Adamek, who lost to Vyacheslav Glazkov in his last bout in March. Adamek found the mark with right hands early in the stanza, backing Szpilka to the ropes before taking a few counter left crosses in return.

The faster Szpilka regained control of the bout afterwards, sending his compatriot to what could be retirement.