ARTUR SZPILKA - IS HE THE REAL DEAL?

July 2009, Hollywood. Glen Johnson and Oliver McCall congratulate Szpilka after his demolition of MMA fighter Jeremy May. They praise Artur's raw talent and ring presence. January 2010, Cracow. Andrew Golota visits Szpilka in jail, encourages him to think about ''freedom, family and boxing''. Polish former olympians, such as Wojciech Bartnik and Jan Skrzecz, once again talk about Artur's enormous potential. June 2011, Rzeszów. Szpilka knocks out unbeaten Bosnian Ramiz Hadziaganovic, executing him with ''perfectly placed short right hook''(check out article on bokser.org from 26th of June). Polish audience explodes, youngster establishes his position as one of the hottest European heavyweight prospects. Doing time and making it an important part of his image - Szpilka openly talks about his connection to convicts' closed world and wears prison uniform for his ring entrance - adds spice to the public discussion about him and allows fans to make bold comparisons between Szpilka and Mike Tyson or Bernard Hopkins. Some people portrait Polish fighter as casual hooligan while recent interviews suggest that he's a young man of very strong character who wants to succeed in boxing and in life and that he's more than aware of chances presented to him by his physical and mental ability to compete with world-class boxers. Here comes the question - is he really that good? It's almost impossible to judge a boxer after six professional fights, yet there are signs that Szpilka's not a hypejob.

Firstly, Szpilka's amateur pedigree is very impressive. Zbigniew Pietrzykowski was 20 years old when he became Polish amateur champion. Andrew Golota did it when he was 18, just like Szpilka. Obviously, level of Polish amateur boxing has dropped since the end of communism but Szpilka delivered also on European scene. He was a silver medalist of old continent's cadet championship and was one fight away from getting an Olympic qualification, losing to Viktor Zujev from Belarus, who won silver medal in Athens 2004. Szpilka's unorthodox style wasn't tailor-made for amateur boxing and his rare losses (Artur amassed a record of 102-5 as an amateur) were controversial. He was one of the most feared punchers but judges were often blinded by his tendency to keep his hands low and to look for hard punches. Not bad for a boy who suffered a lot - Artur was 4 years old when he witnessed his father's death - and who picked up boxing at the age of 15, discovered by his trainer during soccer hooligans' fight. Szpilka entered professional ranks in 2008, just after failing to qualify for Olympics. He was arrested at the weigh-in for the fight against Wojciech Bartnik, which was advertised as the ''change of guard'' in Polish boxing. Taking part in battery outside his local bar costed Artur 18 months of freedom. At least he didn't completely waste his time behind bars - training every day, gaining weight and....playing chess were his prison activities. Szpilka refused to be ''gentle'' inmate (Andrew Golota tried to convince him to become one) and joined the group of self-called ''humans'', people who base their code on disdain for ''rats'', in other words for those who cooperate with police. This decision made it impossible for Artur to shorten his prison sentence. He was moved from jail in Cracow to infamous ZK in Tarnow, place designed for hardened criminals. If you look at it closely, staying true to his hooligan roots during ''too long vacation'' seems to be important for building of Artur's bulletproof mentality, outside and inside of the ring.

Secondly, his style's a rare gem in today's heavyweight boxing. You can't teach great timing possessed by Artur, you can't teach the swagger - check out Szpilka's famous sparring with Albert Sosnowski in 2009, where youngster's finding opportunities to counter from crazy angles with ease. Szpilka's a southpaw, fighting from this stance with dangling right hand and confusing his opponent with fluid foot and upper body movement. David Haye's probably the closest comparison in HW, although - let me outrage you - David's boxing fundamentals are not as good as Artur's. Haye's also not that good mover and he's not a natural born counter-puncher, he prefers to stay on the outside and terrorise you with ambushes while Szpilka's able to stay in the pocket and pick his shots. The chasm in experience is still huge but it will change rapidly if Szpilka continues to impress in US. American audience is hungry for real talent in the division plagued by mediocre yankee fighters challenging Klitschko brothers. David Haye's promised to retire at the end of the year. Tomasz Adamek and two Ukrainian monuments (especially Vitali) will do the same in 2-3 years. ''The world is yours'' Artur. The heavyweight throne is probably closer than anyone thinks. I can imagine Szpilka moving up very fast along with guys like David Price or Robert Helenius. Often mentioned Chisora, Fury or Arreola are, with all due respect, very limited. They don't have that royal aura surrounding Szpilka. Let me tell you that I've never seen a Polish fighter as cruel for the heavybag as Artur is. Add to that speed and skills. It's so easy to predict glory for an established contender, it's so hard to do it when guy's starting. Laugh at me but be prepared to eat your words. The time will come. Bless.