Adamek Sinks "USS" Cunningham's Battleship

Posted by Ryan Bates on 12.12.2008

Imagine a heavyweight bout... with action. That was tonight's IBF/The Ring cruiserweight championship clash between Steve Cunningham and Tomasz Adamek.

A twelve-round championship bout, minus rest periods, lasts exactly thirty-six minutes.

If you only paid attention to thirty-five minutes of the war between Steve Cunningham vs. Tomasz Adamek, go back and re-watch it, because you missed something.

Tomasz Adamek went to war with "USS" Steve Cunningham for twelve solid rounds with Cunningham's IBF cruiserweight title and The Ring's cruiserweight championship on the line. At times, you were sure this fight belonged to Cunningham, with his solid straight rights and movement. At times, you were sure this fight belonged to Adamek, with the Pole's three knockdowns during the fight. And at times, you weren't sure what was happening, because you just wanted to watch the fight.

Cunningham opened the fight strong, although with low hands throughout the fight. But the story of the night started in round two, where in a solid Cunningham round that could be argued to be 10-8, at the last few seconds, a destructive right hand from Adamek dumped the champion on his trunks. The 21-1 (11 KOs) champion built up some steam in the third round, and seemed to be handling Adamek again in the fourth round in another round that could be seen 10-8, when again, here comes Adamek! Same right hand, same dump. 411mania scored both of these rounds 10-9, as they both were rounds firmly in Cunningham's hands until Adamek knocked them out.

Before you think this fight is now a lock for the 35-1 (24 KOs) Pole who calls the East Coast his home, Cunningham took advantage of his longer reach and Adamek's beginning fatigue and landed lead rights and one-twos. Somebody should have informed Adamek, though, as he seemed completely unphased by the champion's punches. And again in round eight, as Cunningham seemed to really be back in his own groove, beginning to reclaim the pace of the fight… here comes Adamek! Again, a right hand find its mark above Cunningham's low left and knocks Cunningham down and seriously stuns him, causing him to go into survival for the last thirty seconds.

And again, the last few rounds were not locked in for Adamek! Cunningham refused to hand over his cruiserweight title and worked through the fatigue to land combos on Adamek's face which worked for the judges but did nothing to stun the challenger. When thirty-six minutes of boxing had passed, no one seemed sure who would come out the victor, despite three knockdowns in Tomasz Ademek's favor.

The scorecards split, and probably rightfully, to a decision. Adamek took two cards 116-110 and 115-112, while Cunningham recovered a card 114-112. I had a draw on my unofficial scorecard, 114-114, with the first two knockdowns being 10-9 rounds for Adamek and the third being 10-8. 411mania's Ramon Aranda had the fight 114-113 to Adamek, with all three knockdowns being scored 10-8.

Cunningham felt that the fourth round was the key to the defeat. "I thought I had him in the fourth," he admitted post-fight, "so I went for a knockout and he caught me. It cost me the fight. That's boxing."

Adamek was a little more brash in his analysis of the fight: "I knew after the first round that he could not hurt me. I knew I could go forward always, like I did against Paul Briggs in the two fights I had with him. Even when his punches connected, I was okay. I also knew that every straight right would put him down and they did. I have faster hands and I could always hit him with one more shot than he could hit me with."

The new IBF and The Ring cruiserweight champion continued, "I could imagine going to heavyweight someday. I feel that good at cruiserweight."

Now when was the last time you saw a heavyweight fight with thirty-six minutes of solid action?