Official Decision: Adrian Diaconu UD-12 Chris Henry

The DonKingTV.com live stream cut out as Chris Henry was getting his gloves fixed in the 10th round of what was a competitive, see-saw battle where it looked to me like Diaconu's stamina might be failing him.

The best thing Henry did in the fight was keep it close. The best thing Diaconu did was not let Henry sustain any momentum. If Henry won a round, Diaconu came back and won the next one. I had it 5-4 for Diaconu through nine rounds, and was in line after eight with the official scoring, which we knew about since the horrible open scoring was in effect.

Diaconu wins the interim WBC light heavyweight title so that the WBC can make more money off of him, and it looks like he might fight Glen Johnson next. He's the mandatory (again) for Dawson, and I guess the idea is Dawson will take a fight with Tarver for more money and give up his belt. I wouldn't put all my eggs into that basket, because I don't think Antonio Tarver, talk as he may, is going to rush to fight Chad Dawson. Forgive me if I doubt the Showtime-dubbed Hall of Famer (gag), but this is a guy that ducked Danny Green less than six months ago. Come on.

Official Result: Tomasz Adamek TKO-7 O'Neil Bell

Bell was down in the first, a very soft knockdown where his knee touched the canvas after a two-punch combo from Adamek. I gave him a very close third round, but other than that, this was a no-show performance from the former undisputed cruiserweight champion, who quit after the seventh round of what was becoming a very lopsided affair.

Bell never got going offensively, totally cut off by Adamek reverting to a more amateur-like style of fighting, moving in and out, landing when he got the look, stopping Bell from doing much of anything at all.

I'm wondering if Bell's heart is really in it anymore, or if the weight bothered him. Remember, he talked about going up to heavyweight. After this performance, that might be the only hope he has left. Adamek dominated with tactical boxing, came in with the right gameplan, and easily won what was expected to be a pretty good fight. All that time off had to have something to do with Bell's awful showing, but it wasn't just ring rust. He was lost. He looked sort of like Adamek did against Chad Dawson.

As for Adamek, this sets him up for a shot at IBF cruiserweight champ Steve "USS" Cunningham, which could be a really good fight. With Haye leaving, I think you have to consider the American Cunningham the best cruiser in the world right now.

The big one between "The Executioner" and "Joe Cool" is still to come, at 9:45 ET. We'll have live scoring and coverage within the post below, and will have continuing analysis in this post afterward and I'd guess in plenty of more stories throughout the weekend.

It's a big day at Bad Left Hook. We're going to cover three fights today -- Diaconu-Henry starting at 1:30 PM ET on DonKingTV.com, Bell-Adamek starting at 6:00 PM ET on ESPN Classic, and Hopkins-Calzaghe starting at 9:45 ET on HBO. Join us for all day boxing fight coverage, scoring, and all-around good times.

MAIN EVENT
For The Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight Title
9:45 PM ET - HBO
BERNARD HOPKINS
Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight Champion
(48-4-1, 32 KO, Philadelphia, PA)
versus
JOE CALZAGHE
Ring Magazine/WBC/WBA/WBO Super Middleweight Champion
(44-0, 32 KO, Newbridge, Wales)

IBF Cruiserweight Title Eliminator
6:00 PM ET - ESPN Classic
O'NEIL BELL
Ring Magazine No. 3 Contender
(26-2-1, Atlanta, GA)
versus
TOMASZ ADAMEK
(33-1, 22 KO, Gilowice, Poland)

For the Interim WBC Light Heavyweight Title
1:30 PM ET - DonKingTV.com
ADRIAN DIACONU
Ring Magazine No. 8 Contender
(24-0, 15 KO, Montreal, PQ, by way of Ploesti-Prahova, Romania)
versus
CHRIS HENRY
Ring Magazine No. 10 Contender
(21-0, 17 KO, Houston, TX)

Picks:

Calzaghe UD Hopkins -- tough fight
Bell TKO-7 Adamek -- Bell's power overwhelms
Diaconu UD Henry -- think this'll be an exciting fight, and I do think Henry has a good chance

Saturday night isn't just about Hopkins-Calzaghe, though that is the fight that has the boxing world buzzing right now, and is the biggest on the schedule currently.

ESPN Classic will present a live cruiserweight bout between former light heavyweight titlist Tomasz Adamek and former cruiserweight king O'Neil Bell, live at 6PM ET from Katowice, Poland -- Adamek's turf.

Need a primer? OK, let's make it simple. Chances are, this one will be an all-out fight. Neither guy specializes in pitty-pat shots or defensive boxing. Both guys are at their very best when they're trading blows and going all-out.

If you've never seen the knee-buckling wars between Adamek and Paul Briggs, do yourself a favor and seek those out. And if you've never seen the two great fights between Bell and Jean-Marc Mormeck, do the same. And if you watch those and still don't want to see Adamek-Bell, you're bonkers.

Yes, Adamek looked lost during a 12-round, thorough loss to Chad Dawson last year, but he's come back as a cruiserweight with two tune-up wins. And honestly, Adamek looked so awful that night against Bell that I really want to chalk it up to just being one of those nights, against the wrong opponent. Dawson disposed of Adamek with little trouble, though Adamek did floor him late in the fight in a moment of brilliance that would leave as soon as it arrived.

And sure, Bell hasn't fought in over a year since dropping the rematch to Mormeck, but it was a tremendous fight, an early FotY candidate in 2007. But I have no worries. This is going to be a good fight.

It's good they're starting at such different times, or the hardcore action boxing fan in me would almost want to choose Adamek-Bell over Hopkins-Calzaghe, and that's no joke and no hype job. While the fight between the two champions promises to be tactical warfare at its very best, bombs will be flying in the cruiserweight showdown from Poland.

Let's assume both are in good shape. I don't think any rustiness on Bell's behalf will hurt him much, since Adamek has yet to face a stiff test at cruiserweight and hasn't had a tough fight since the stunningly one-sided loss to Dawson last year.

The power is in Bell's favor. He's the naturally bigger man and has even entertained ideas of going up to heavyweight in recent months. He's better-built, stronger, and is a KO artist -- on his 26-2 record, 24 of the wins have come by knockout. As for Adamek, his 33-1 slate includes 22 KOs, which is not a bad ratio, either.

Bell is considered by most, I think, to be a rather heavy favorite. But Adamek has a lot of guts. The two fights with Briggs showed that, and even the loss to Dawson did. Most guys would have given up at some point, and while it did look like Adamek had almost completely forgotten how to fight against Dawson, he never did quit on himself.

Is it likely to be a Fight of the Year-type of bout? Probably not, especially with Vazquez-Marquez III and Marquez-Pacquiao II at the top of the list, tough hills to climb for any matchup. But it could and should be an action-packed brawl from start to finish, and that finish is almost certainly coming before the end of the scheduled 12 rounds.

This is not for titles. This is not even an eliminator. Bell is fighting to get his name back in the mix, and Adamek is fighting to truly put himself into the cruiserweight fold. Both of these guys really need this win right now. With David Haye leaving the division, it's wide open. Steve Cunningham, Jean-Marc Mormeck, Enzo Maccarinelli, and a few others have solid spots in the division, some more deserving than others, but none without flaws. The 200-pound division is one of the most volatile in the sport; every guy you could rank in the top ten is vulnerable. Every single one. And Bell and Adamek are no different.

I look for Bell to take a couple of rounds to get his feet wet and get his game really going, but after that, his power should overwhelm Adamek. But Tomasz is a tough, tough guy. Unless it's a monster shot, one knockdown isn't going to keep him down. And anything can happen in a fight like this.

That's why we'll be here on Saturday night at 6PM ET to watch, score and talk about this fight, live as it happens, something of a warm-up for Hopkins-Calzaghe. If you ask me right now which fight I think will be better, I'll take Adamek-Bell without thinking twice.