Vitali Klitschko stops Tomasz Adamek in Poland

Vitali Klitschko (right) dominated from the opening bell in Wroclaw

Vitali Klitschko stopped Tomasz Adamek in the 10th round of a one-sided fight to defend his WBC heavyweight belt in Poland on Saturday.

Klitschko, 40, dominated the contest, hurting his much lighter opponent with a series of crunching jabs.

The courageous Adamek, the mandatory challenger, was outclassed through the fight and took a count in the sixth round after Klitschko landed a right.

Adamek was out on his feet at the end when the referee stopped the fight.

"Right now I am much better than I was 10 years ago," said Klitschko after his victory in Wroclaw. "I know what I have to do.

"From the beginning of the fight I knew that I would knock out Adamek sooner or later. I controlled the fight but a couple of times I hit him and I was surprised. He has a good chin."

Asked whether he would like to fight David Haye, who lost to Vitali's brother Wladimir in Germany earlier in the year, Vitali added: "David Haye is world-famous - not for his boxing but for his tongue.

"I want to knock him out - I'm serious. I know I can do that."

Klitschko now has 40 knockouts in 43 victories, plus two defeats, and along with younger brother Wladimir their dominance of the heavyweight division remains total, holding the IBF, WBO, WBA and WBC titles.

Adamek is a former world champion in both the cruiserweight and light-heavyweight divisions, with a record of 44 victories, with 28 knockouts, and a solitary defeat, going into the fight.

But he had no answer to the relentless pounding from Klitschko, who landed a ferocious right in the first round that left his opponent reeling.

Another heavy in the second round saw Adamek knocked against the ropes and although he rallied at several points as he tried to get inside his opponent's superior reach, Klitschko was rarely in danger and Italian referee Massimo Barrovecchio could arguably have stopped the fight earlier than he did.