Adamek Captures WBC Title in Thriller with Briggs
By Brent Hedtke at Ringside (May 24, 2005)  
On the undercard of the fifty-three second Lamon Brewster (who will from here on out be referred to as ‘Punchy Brewster’) vs. Andrew Golota WBO heavyweight title fight, Poland’s new favorite son, Tomasz Adamek, won a close but well deserved majority decision in a shoot-out with Australia’s Paul ‘Hurricane’ Briggs. By defeating Briggs, Adamek won the vacant WBC light heavyweight championship.

Before a near sell out crowd, Adamek entered the ring to deafening cheers from the predominantly Polish crowd. As chants of “Po-land, Po-land” filled the arena, former kickboxer turned boxer Paul Briggs climbed through the ropes to a throng of “boos” from the bloodthirsty Poles. Both fighters looked extremely relaxed and confident, Adamek in particular, who had the support of nearly 20,000 of his countrymen behind him.

As the bell rang, both fighters met at the center of the ring to kick off what would become one of the most memorable light heavyweight bouts in recent memory. Adamek landed first with a crisp one-two right on the chin of Briggs. Briggs worked behind a steady jab but was caught with a big left uppercut and another one-two towards the middle of the round. Adamek was able to back Briggs up for the remainder of the round but Briggs answered back with what would become the first of many neck-snapping straight right hands landed for the Australian.

Toward the beginning of the second, an accidental headbutt opened a vicious cut over the left eye of Briggs. After being cleared by the ringside physician to continue, Briggs came out with a sense of urgency and attacked. Unfortunately for him, Adamek’s quick right hand counters only assisted the bleeding process and Briggs was forced to back off.

After losing the first four rounds on all three official scorecards, Briggs began to find a comfortable home for his thunderous right hand. In the fifth round, both fighters exchanged jarring straight rights, in which Adamek came out slightly worse for the wear. Briggs also began landing his left hook to the body, which seemed to slightly slow the Polish Adamek.

The sixth round saw Briggs continue to load up his right and land it cleanly almost at will. Adamek’s swollen right eye was evidence of the effect of Briggs’s bombs but Briggs’s inability to follow up with anything meaningful may have been the reason Adamek was able to end the majority of the middle rounds on his feet. In the last minute of the round, Adamek landed a perfect three-punch combo to Briggs’s head and body to which Briggs countered with a hard, looping right. Again though, Briggs failed to capitalize and Adamek made it to the bell.

Rounds seven through nine saw more of the same, making it hard for the judges to score for Briggs’s heavier, right hand missiles or Adamek’s cleaner, faster combos. As the tenth round began, both fighters looked as though they had gone toe to toe with a mountain lion. Briggs continued to land with his jackhammer right but consistently let Adamek off the hook. Adamek was content to stay back, counter and save his energy for the grueling championship rounds.

At the start of the eleventh, both fighters continued to give the judges fits as Adamek landed another solid three-punch combination to Briggs’s head and torso. Again though, Briggs came back with a stunning right that knocked Adamek back and had the Pole in serious trouble. Though he was hurt, Adamek landed enough clean counters and effective jabs of his own to take the round.

Both fighters came out for the twelfth determined to end it before the final bell. Adamek landed a strong right hand that backed Briggs up and trapped him against the ropes. Right on cue though, Briggs fired back with a booming right and the two bloodied warriors ended the round with brutal back and forth exchanges that Adamek barely got the better of.

In the end, it was Adamek’s cleaner and more frequent punches that saw him through but not without a price. His face showed the damage his Aussie opponent inflicted on him throughout the fight. “This was my best fight ever. Briggs was a strong, tough fighter but I was never going to give up” stated Adamek shortly after the fight. “I know I made my country and family proud”. His Polish fans in attendance certainly seemed to be.

Briggs was obviously disappointed but was respectful of both the judges and his opponent. “I felt I rocked him every other round. I caught a lot of his power shots with my gloves. He was a good fighter and he put together good combinations. Of course I thought I won but that’s the way it goes.”

Briggs now falls to 23-2 (17) while Adamek remains undefeated with a perfect 29-0 (20) professional record.

Official scores were 115-113, 114-114 and 117-111. Doghouse Boxing saw it 115-114 in favor of Adamek.

More Undercard Action

Garcia TKO’s Wells...again.

In an exciting war for the WBA 147-pound interim title, Alejandro ‘Terra’ Garcia once again got the better of Las Vegas native Roshii Wells. In a repeat of their September 2003 fight, the Tijuana based Garcia was able to overpower Wells and force a late round stoppage.

After three evenly fought rounds, the fourth saw Garcia rock Wells with a right hand that nearly dropped him and in the process forced the two fighters to tangle and ended up with Garcia taking a trip through the ropes and onto the ring apron.

If the names Corrales and Castillo had not been linked and secured into boxing immortality just weeks ago, round eight of Garcia/Wells would be a sure candidate for Round of The Year. After two heavy handed exchanges, Garcia sent Wells to the canvas with a vicious right hook. Wells rose to his feet at the count of eight and somehow cleared his head enough to back Garcia off. In the closing seconds of the round, Wells trapped Garcia on the ropes and landed cleanly until the bell sounded. Garcia looked out on his feet but recovered well between rounds.

In what was to become the final round, both fighters came out throwing bombs. After a number of heated exchanges, it was Garcia who landed a thumping right hook that he followed up with two more. Wells dropped to the canvas as Garcia stumbled to a neutral corner. Wells rose to his feet on shaky legs, forcing referee Pete Podgorski to call a halt to the action at 2:52 of round nine. At the time of the stoppage, two judges had Garcia ahead by scores of 76-74 and 76-75, respectively, while a third had Wells leading by a 78-75 margin.

Garcia moves to 29-1 (29) while Wells falls to 18-2-2 (11).

Baldomir outpoints Rodriguez

Welterweight Carlos Baldomir, 41-9-6 (12), won a hard fought unanimous decision over Miguel Rodriguez, 26-2 (21), in a WBC elimination bout. Baldomir used his vast experience and constant pressure to keep the younger Rodriguez on his toes. In the end all the judges scored it for Baldomir by scores of 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113.

After the fight, an emotional Baldomir stated “I have traveled far to get this chance at the title and I can not stop these tears.” With his victory, Baldomir now becomes the number one challenger to undisputed welterweight champion Zab ‘Super’ Judah.

Davis suffers upset TKO loss to late sub Jones

In somewhat of a surprise, former IBF cruiserweight champion Kelvin ‘Koncrete’ Davis was stopped inside of four rounds by late sub Guillermo ‘El Felino’ Jones.

Davis came out throwing wide right hooks, the majority of which missed. Despite his uncontrolled, Tyson-esque fury, Davis’s pressure enabled him to control the first couple of rounds. At the end of round three however, Davis was rocked with a right hand at the bell and drunkenly stumbled back to his corner.

Jones picked up right where he left off and continued clubbing Davis with crushing right hooks. He caught Davis with a series of five unanswered punches, which dropped ‘Koncrete’ and saw him rise on wobbly legs. One look at his eyes was all referee John O’Brien needed to call a halt to the action at 0:42 seconds of the fourth round.

With the loss, Davis falls to 23-3-1 (16) while Jones sees his record rise to 32-3-2 (25).
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