Scheduled Event
For Your Consideration: Steve Cunningham v. Tomasz Adamek
This fight is less than 24 hours old, but I know some of you may have missed it live and might still be waiting for a replay. Since everyone else is doing it, why can't we?
Here you go. The rest of the fight is after the jump.
7 comments
|
1 recs |
Tweet
Adamek tops Cunningham in a barnburner
Former light heavyweight tilist Tomasz Adamek knocked Steve Cunningham down three times, but the fight was in doubt until the official scores were read after a thrilling bout that no doubt takes its place among 2008's Fight of the Year contenders.
Adamek, performing for a wonderful crowd in Newark that heavily favored him over the Philadelphia-bred Cunningham, put the now former IBF titlist down at the very end of the second round, again in the fourth, and yet again in the eighth.
The fourth round knockdown was the most interesting, as Cunningham was so dominating the round that it would have been 10-8 for sure. Suddenly, Adamek snapped him back and floored him, and that changed it to at least a 10-9 round for the Pole.
This is a fight that has rematch written all over it. There's not a better opponent for either guy, and Cunningham has a case although he didn't whine about the scoring or anything, saying simply that he beat himself by going away from his strengths. I scored the fight 113-113, with "U.S.S." Cunningham showing great heart down the stretch, winning the final three rounds on my card. Overall, Cunningham won seven of the 12 rounds for me, but those two 10-8 rounds for Adamek tied it up.
Official scores were 114-112 Cunningham, and 116-110 and 115-112 Adamek. Adamek not only wins the IBF title from Cunningham, but more important for us diehards, he is now THE world's cruiserweight champion. He's the man in the division. He's the real deal.
The TV opener between IBF bantamweight titlist Joseph Agbeko and challenger William Gonzalez was also a hell of a good scrap, making this without question the best non-HBO or Showtime TV card of the year for American fans, and really pound-for-pound, these two fights may well have made for the best night of boxing on American TV in 2008. Hats off to Versus and Don King, and the fighters, of course. Agbeko won a grueling 12-round decision to retain after being out of the ring for 15 months.
Off TV, Devon Alexander stopped Christopher Fernandez in three rounds.
Bad Left Hook Fight Night: Steve Cunningham v. Tomasz Adamek
The show starts live tonight at 8pm ET on the Versus Network. This fight is for the vacant World Cruiserweight Championship. The Ring has IBF titlist Cunningham ranked #1 and former light heavyweight titleholder Adamek ranked #2.
The undercard features Joseph Agbeko FINALLY defending his bantamweight title against William Gonzalez. Both guys can punch. Agbeko hasn't been in the ring in 15 months. Not sure if Devon Alexander's fight will be on TV, but they've got two hours blocked off so I'm hoping it is. He'll be facing Christopher Fernandez in an eight-rounder.
| STEVE CUNNINGHAM Ring Magazine No. 1 Cruiserweight IBF Cruiserweight Titlist |
TOMASZ ADAMEK Ring Magazine No. 2 Cruiserweight |
|
| 21-1 | Record | 35-1 |
| 11 | KO | 24 |
| Philadelphia, PA | Hometown | Gilowice, Poland |
| 32 | Age | 32 |
| 6'3" | Height | 6'1 1/2" |
| Marco Huck (TKO-12) Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (MD-12) Guillermo Jones (SD-10) |
Notable Wins | O'Neil Bell (TKO-8) Paul Briggs (MD-12, MD-12) Thomas Ulrich (KO-6) |
| Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (SD-12) | Notable Losses | Chad Dawson (UD-12) |
| JOSEPH AGBEKO Ring Magazine No. 6 Bantamweight IBF Bantamweight Titlist |
WILLIAM GONZALEZ |
|
| 25-1 | Record | 21-2 |
| 22 | KO | 19 |
| Bronx, NY (Accra, Ghana) | Hometown | Managua, Nicaragua |
| 28 | Age | 27 |
| 5'6" | Height | 5'8" |
| Luis Alberto Perez (TKO-7) | Notable Wins | Mauricio Martinez (SD-12) |
| Wladimir Sidorenko (MD-12) | Notable Losses | Jhonny Gonzalez (KO-3) Ricardo Cordoba (TKO-10) |

by 












