The main event for tonight's Fight Night on Versus card should be a treat for the fans in Newark, as Philadelphia's Steve Cunningham puts his IBF cruiserweight title on the line against Tomasz Adamek, who is from Poland but lives in Jersey City.
Adamek is a former light heavyweight champion who moved up in weight after a February 2007 loss to Chad Dawson. He's won four straight fights in a row, including an April knockout of O'Neil Bell.
The champ hasn't fought since last December, and he's fought mostly overseas for the majority of his career. He'll enjoy advantages in both height and reach for this bout.
Referee Earl Morton is the man in charge of the action. The fighter introductions are complete and we're all set to go.
Round One
Urged on by the crowd, Adamek is coming forward. Cunningham lands a few quick lefts and is hit with a right to the body in return. The champ is showing good movement and not giving Adamek many angles. Now Adamek lands some shots along the ropes. Cunningham lands a counter and two jabs. Two right hands find the mark too.
Franchise: 10-9 Cunningham
Round Two
Cunningham seems very committed to his jab. Both men flurry in the corner. Adamek walks in and scores with both hands. The champ digs in and fires some hooks. Adamek lands a right hand to the head and one to the body. Cunningham is still bouncing on his feet but he's getting lured into some exchanges. Adamek lands a left hand right at the bell and I believe that will be scored a knockdown.
Franchise: 10-8 Adamek
Round Three
The champ sees none the worse for wear despite hitting the canvas. He's trying to jab but not often enough. Adamek stands and fires a right hand. The challenger is really cutting off the ring well and dictating the action. Cunningham scores with rights to the body and head. Both men land a shot or two right before the bell.
Franchise: 10-9 Cunningham
Round Four
Cunningham scores right away with a right hand that stuns Adamek. He presses his advantage and swarms the challenger in the corner. Adamek is eating a bunch of shots but Cunningham has to be cautious that he doesn't punch himself out. Adamek gathers himself and throws some body shots. A right hand comes out of nowhere and drops Cunningham again. Can the champ escape this round? Yes he does.
Franchise: 10-9 Adamek
Round Five
It will be hard to top that last round, as Adamek looked like he was ready to go, then rallied to score a knockdown. Both men are digging in and firing. Cunningham scores with a big right hand upstairs. Adamek responds with clubbing lefts. He walks the champ down and starts to find some openings. The challenger lands a body combo but gets caught upstairs. They stand and trade at the bell and that round will be hard to score.
Franchise: 10-9 Adamek
Round Six
Cunningham goes back to the jab and finds some success. Adamek wades in and both men land. Body shot by Adamek and Cunningham fires back to the head. The challenger does more work along the ropes. The champ has nothing to go with his jab right now, but he does a nice job avoiding most of the incoming fire.
Franchise: 10-9 Cunningham
Round Seven
The champ needs to keep Adamek away from him and find a home for the right hand. He's moving well and Adamek can't track him down. Big right hand hits Adamek but he seems uninjured. The champ digs to the body and follows up to the head. This is a good round for Cunningham, though he gets tagged by a few late shots.
Franchise: 10-9 Cunningham
Round Eight
Cunningham's right hand crashes home again early in this round. If he had more power, this fight would have been over already. Adamek flurries along the ropes and gets the crowd back into it. Body-head combo by the champ. Adamek walks Cunningham into the corner and knocks the champ down again with a left hand during an exchange. The champ is in big trouble but there's no questioning his heart as he makes it out of the round.
Franchise: 10-8 Adamek
Round Nine
Cunningham isn't done yet, as he scores with an early flurry. Adamek backs his foe into the ropes and goes back to work. The champ turns aggressor and he's doing most of the effective punching right now. Right hook upstairs out of a clinch. Right hand by Adamek and a left right back by Cunningham. That round was close.
Franchise: 10-9 Adamek
Round 10
Three rounds to go and Cunningham is going to have to do something spectacular, one would think. Nice right by the champ and Adamek shrugs it off and throws one of his own. Double champ by the champ. More jabs and they circle around. Flurry by Cunningham and another right hand. He keeps the jab in Adamek's face but is missing with some looping shots. They stand and trade with 20 seconds to go.
Franchise: 10-9 Cunningham
Round 11
Adamek is knocked backwards by an early right hand. Both men landing bombs as they dig in. Adamek lands a lunging right coming in. Left-right combo for Cunningham. He's eating some shots but landing some of his own too. It turns into an all-out slugfest down the stretch, and I'm glad I'm not officially scoring that round.
Franchise: 10-9 Adamek
Round 12
Huge right to the head by the champ. Cunningham is going for broke and pouring it on. Punches are landing too fast for me to type as they exchange. Adamek gets the best of an exchange in the middle of the ring. Clean right hand lead by the champ. Adamek looks tired but he is still game. This fight goes right to the final bell the same way most of it unfolded.
Franchise: 10-9 Cunningham
Despite three knockdowns by the challenger, it's quite possible this will be close on the scorecards.
The scores are 114-112 Cunningham, 116-110 Adamek and 115-112 Adamek. The winner by split decison... and new IBF cruiserweight champion of the world... Tomasz Adamek.
Adamek. speaking through a translator, says he is happy and that while Cunningham hit him with some good punches, they were not that strong. He also thinks fights like this are good for boxing, and it's hard to argue that.
Cunningham admits he probably made some tactical errors but makes no excuses. He says the knockdowns were his fault, and he'd box more if granted a rematch.
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2 comments:
Sounds like a great fight. It's great that Versus puts on these type of fights.
It was a fantastic fight. Cunningham showed terrific heart to get up three times and actually win more rounds, and Adamek's chin was ridiculous. The first fight was good too, so it was a good night for Versus all the way around.
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