LODZ, Poland – “I love Polish food. Can you tell?” Andrew Golota said with his usual sense of humor when he arrived for a combined press conference and weigh-in Friday in Lodz, Poland, the site of his heavyweight fight against Tomasz Adamek on Saturday.

No one doubts that Golota is telling the truth. Larry Hazard of the IBF checked the scale a couple of times. It stopped at 256 pounds, almost 10 more than Golota has ever weighed for a fight. Adamek was exactly 42 pounds lighter, 214. He looked like Golota’s younger brother.

Both of them looked well prepared, without much spare fat, although Golota at 41 isn’t quite the physical specimen he once was.

“How will you surprise Adamek,” one of more than 100 reporters who packed “Elektrownia” (Power Plant), a glitzy nightclub in the middle of Lodz, asked Golota.

“I will be in the ring,” quipped Golota, responding to those who never believed he would fight his countryman.

Nobody will question Golota’s power. He hit the pads held by trainer Sam Colonna so hard that Colonna seemed to escape the ring in fear of his life. Still, Andrew Gmitruk, Adamek’s legendary Polish trainer, was never more confident in his fighter.

“There’s something special in Adamek this time,” said Gmitruk, who 21 years ago was in Golota’s corner when he won his Olympic bronze medal in Seoul, South Korea. “He was always a very calm, dedicated fighter. This time he has something in his eyes. I told him that he’s got killer eyes and he just smiled. Even the smile was scary.”

Who will win?

Golota was continuing a special trip down memory lane, training at an old Polish boxing venue in Lodz.

“Last time I fought here was exactly 26 years ago. I won my first tournament here,” said Golota, who behind closed doors was working on some “special ingredient” (his words) to beat his younger rival. “He was never in his life hit so hard like I will hit him Saturday night. And there will be no place to run.” Golota was referring to the small, roughly 19-foot ring at Atlas Arena in Lodz.

Adamek, who arrived in town the night before the weigh-in, decided to lay low.

“I know what I will do, even more now, knowing how heavy he is,” he said. “I said from the beginning that every pound more is better for me. Nothing changed. You cannot knock down somebody you cannot hit. Whoever said this is right.”