Ringside Boxing report by Ken Hissner, Doghouse Boxing. Tomasz Adamek, 47-2 (29), of Gilowice, Poland, came off the canvas in
the 2nd round Saturday afternoon at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ,
to put Travis Walker, 39-8-1 (31), of Tallahassee, FL, on the canvas
for one of the most exciting rounds in a major fight this year and would
go onto score a 5th round stoppage! “Ironbound Throwdown” is what
Kathy Duvas’s Main Events, Peltz Boxing and Ziggy Promotions called it
and it looked like a real throwback boxing fight! This was an IBF North
American title defense for Adamek.
Adamek, a former 2-division
champion continues to beat the big boy’s especially at Newark. Outsized
by the much bigger Walker, Adamek was dropped with a right to the left
side of his forehead and had the mark to prove it after the fight. He
struggled to stay upright as the oncoming Walker came forward for the
finish. “I got over excited thinking it would be an early night for
me,” said Walker.
As Adamek was having Walker missing he landed
a right cross of his own and down went Walker to the excitement of the
shocked fans after seeing their star boxer on the canvas seconds prior
to this. As the bell sounded Adamek had Walker on the defense in the
Adamek corner landing punch after punch before referee Eddie Cotton
finally realized the bell had sounded ending the round. All 3 judges
scored the round differently, 10-10, 10-9 and 9-10. Adamek went on the
offense in the 3rd round showing he was too quick for the slow moving
Walker. In the 4th round Adamek landed a combination that rocked Walker
and followed up with a straight right to the jaw.
In the 5th and
final round you could see the look of determination on the face of
Adamek as he pressed forward and unloaded 26 straight punches before
referee Cotton got between the fighters and waved it off at 1:08 of the
round! “Thank you God, I am okay and he is too. Speed is power,” said
Adamek. After 4 rounds Debra Barnes had Adamek ahead 40-37 while judges
Ron McNair and Robin Taylor had it 39-37 for Adamek as did DHB with a
10-10 second round.
This show was aired by both Wealth TV and
Polish PPV. This was an unusual afternoon show so the fans back in
Poland would be able to view it at a decent hour. This may have kept the
attendance down as many of the Polish fans may have been watching it at
home to the usually packed center. There are plans to come back to the
Prudential Center in December.
Former 2-time IBF cruiserweight
champion Philadelphia’s Steve “USS” Cunningham, 25-4 (12), made his
heavyweight debut by 7 pounds over the cruiserweight limit as he won a
lopsided decision over game Jason Gavern, 21-11-4 (10) now listed out of
Harrisonburg, VA, though he seems to call FL his home. Head’s collided
in the first round and Cunningham came out the worst for wear suffering
a cut just below his left eye brow. Referee David Fields called it an
unintentional head butt. Cut-man Buddy Osborn did a fine job in closing
the cut for the most part the rest of the way.
A jab in the
second round by Cunningham knocked Gavern back several
steps. Cunningham seemed just as busy as a heavyweight as he had been
at cruiserweight. The last time he fought at the center was in 2008
when he lost a close decision to Adamek along with his title. He was
then under contract to Don King and eventually signed by Sauerland Event
in Germany. Recently he signed with Main Events for his first fight at
heavyweight. “We welcomed Steve Cunningham to our team,” said Kathy
Duva. That was after the fight at the press conference.
In the
3rd round a right hand to the left eye of Gavern seemed to hurt
him. Cunningham seemed to be able to land that chopping right hand all
night to the head of Gavern. In the 4th Gavern put on a small rally to
let Cunningham and the fans know he was a gamer. This was short lived as
Cunningham kept up the pace and the out landing of Gavern.
This
seemed to set the pace as Cunningham poured on the pressure but Gavern
showed his toughness and was never in danger of hitting the canvas
though you at times wondered what was keeping him up. John McKaie and
Eugene Grant had it 100-90, as did DHB while Emil Conforti had it 99-91
all for Cunningham.
“I want to thank my wife and manager
(Livvy), promoter Kathy Duva, trainer Naazim Richardson and trainer and
cut-man Buddy Osborn. God has a plan, some of us know, for I was
getting squeezed out of the cruiserweight division and had to move
up. Gavern and I share the same faith but in boxing that sometimes
happens. He was a tough opponent. Without my wife and Jesus Christ who
brought her into my life I felt I otherwise was forgotten while
fighting overseas,” said Cunningham. When asked by this writer about a
possible fight with WBA champion Alexander Povetkin Duva passed it over
to Cunningham who said “I would like to fight Povetkin and I knew when
Marco Huck drew with him that I was a heavyweight. I actually thought
Huck defeated him”.
In the first of 3 heavyweight matches another
Philadelphian kept his unbeaten record as Bryant “By-By” Jennings, 15-0
(7), showed his power as he landed his first punches a lead right and a
follow-up left to drop Chris Koval, 25-10 (18), of Youngstown, OH, who
was very shaken as he got up. Jennings jumped on him landing another
right and left combination again dropping Koval. Referee David
Franciosa had seen enough at 0:35 of the first round. His biggest fan
at ringside, his grandmother, told this writer, “I didn’t think it would
be over that fast”. “I feel so good I want to come back on September
21st in Bethlehem and be on that show,” said Jennings. His promoter J
Russell Peltz has one scheduled for that night. “Our team of Fred
Jenkins Jr and Fred Jenkins Sr keeps on rolling,” said Jennings.
Before
the fight in the dressing room when Jennings was asked about a fight
for the title he didn’t hesitate in saying “I’d take it in a
heartbeat”. Jenkins, Sr, said “I want to put the champions on notice
that Bryant Jennings is a heavyweight to be reckoned with and willing to
fight any of them at anytime”. Well, Jennings certainly showed his
power later that afternoon in stopping Koval on 4 punches.
In one
of the more interesting bouts on the card Jerry Belmontes, 17-0 (5), of
Corpus Christi, TX, kept his unbeaten record defeating Joselito “Rumble
King” Collado, 13-2 (3), out of Queens, NY, over 8 rounds in the junior
lightweight division. In the opening minutes a clash of heads caused a
vertical cut on the forehead of Collado. This was never an issue
during the fight though.
Collado would come forward wide open
but still have the ability to land punches. On the other hand
Belmontes didn’t seem to want to take advantage of the cut and let his
hands fly even faster than Collado mostly to the body. It was a rough
fight with Collado landing more than his share of rabbit punches before
referee Fields finally issued a warning by the 4th round. “He got away
with quite a few of those punches behind the head,” said Belmontes.
In
the final 2 rounds Belmontes showed his defensive skills as he had
Collado frustrated with miss after miss. Both fighters through the
first 6 rounds landed their share of punches in a closely contested bout
that had the faster Belmontes seemingly ahead. As a veteran of 140
amateur fights he showed how well schooled he was. Judges Grant and
Conforti along with DHB had it 78-74 while McKaie had it 77-75 all for
Belmontes.
Main Events recently signed Belmontes and seem to have
a real find with him. His corner consists of his assistant trainer and
father Salvadore, head trainer Derrick James and cut-man Richard
Rodriguez. James retired in 2008 after a 16-year career as a
cruiserweight posting a 21-7-1 record.
In a 6 round junior
welterweight match Jose “Kangu” Peralta, 10-1 (6), out of Passaic, NJ,
had his way with Christian Steele, 3-5 (1), out of Philadelphia, after
losing the 1st round on 2 of the 3 judges score cards while landing his
left hook time and again to the body of Steele. He finally went to the
head with the left hook to the chin dropping Steele. In the 3rd round
Peralta picked up where he left off with a counter right to the chin for
another knockdown as referee Franciosa put a stop to it at 0:46 of the
3rd round.
In the opening bout Philadelphia’s Karl “Dynamite”
Dargan, 11-0 (6), made the 135 give or take a pound contract at 136 but
his opponent Jesse Carradine, 8-2-1 (4), out of Cincinnati, OH, came in
light at 130. Referee Fields called a questionable knockdown that
looked more like a slip as Carradine’s one glove touched the canvas. To
add to the confusion Fields started wiping off the gloves of Dargan
before he realized it was the wrong fighter. In the 2nd round Carradine
landed his share of chopping rights but not enough to offset the busier
Dargan.
In the 3rd round Dargan dropped Carradine with a left
hook to the chin. Though Carradine got through the round he was on
unsteady feet. In the 4th a right to the chin dropped Carradine a
second time. He started to hold after that making the referee struggle
to separate the fighters on several occasions. When Carradine slipped
through the ropes Fields saw enough and suddenly waved the fight
off. The fans were not sure whether it was a disqualification of
what. Fields signaled the fight was over at 1:04 of the 4th round.
Carradine
who attended Northern Michigan U. and his trainer Don Turner have to
decide which weight class they are going to have Carradine in the
future. Dargan, a former Pan American Gold medalist and nephew of his
trainer Naazim Richardson seemed quite pleased with the win. Turner
made no complaints to the stoppage.
Visit the IMPROVED Doghouse Boxing Forums (Login with your Facebook or Twitter account - Now Mobile, Ipad, Blackberry, Android & YouTube Friendly) DogPound
