By Cliff Rold

29-year old Heavyweight Vyacheslav Glazkov (16-0-1, 11 KO), a 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist at Super Heavyweight of Lugansk, Ukraine, was originally scheduled to face former WBC Light Heavyweight and Lineal/IBF World Cruiserweight Champion Tomasz Adamek in Saturday afternoon.  When Adamek pulled out this week with an illness, Glazkov was forced to find a late replacement.

What he found was a game guy who made him work for all of ten rounds.  Glazkov ultimately prevailed by unanimous decision against 31-year old Garrett Wilson (13-7-1, 7 KO) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York.

Glazkov weighed in at 222 lbs.  Wilson, who usually competes at Cruiserweight, came in a career high 204.  The referee was Dick Pakozdi.

Glazkov, at 6’3, held a six-inch height advantage over Wilson and used it enough to stem some of the rushing, windmill attacks of Wilson.  A clash of heads in round three opened a cut over the right eye of Glazkov and may have emboldened Wilson who continued to march forward through the biggest shots he had as the rounds wore on.  Two additional small cuts, also from head clashes, were opened over the left eye and Glazkov was rocked a couple times in the fight with single, hard shots.  He kept afoot and outfought Wilson with accurate, hard punches.

Final scores came in with varied respect for Wilson’s ability to make it a fight at 97-93, 98-92, and a near shutout 99-91.

Interviewed after the fight through a translator, Glazkov noted the size difference between Wilson and Adamek meant a dramatic change in game plan.  He pointed to the size difference as playing a factor in the cuts as well.  He’ll go home with the win, time to heal, and hopefully a rescheduling with Adamek to bring him closer to a chance at serious title contention.

Wilson was able to smile after giving a valiant effort.  “Even if (the judges) see it as a loss, I think it was a little closer than the judges had it.  At the same time, I’ll be back.  As long as y’all have me,” he said, looking to the crowd.  “Would y’all have me back?”  The crowd cheered in approval.

Game underdogs often leave the masses wanting more.

In the televised opener, 28-year old Lightweight Karl Dargan (14-0, 7 KO), 134, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, used his jab, head movement, and speed to thoroughly outbox 26-year old Michael Brooks (10-0-1, 2 KO), 134 ½, of Long Island, New York.  Dargan punctuated the performance with a steady increase in effective offense as the rounds went by, showing off solid combination punching and accuracy.  There were no knockdowns in the bout.  The referee was Charlie Fitch.

The contest marked a milestone for the rising Dargan as he goes ten rounds for the first time.  His previous long was six rounds.  The judges gave him a near shutout at scores of 98-92 and 99-91 twice.

Light heavyweight Isaac Chilemba (21-2-2, 9KOs) won an eight round unanmous decision over Michael Gbenga (16-10, 16KOs).

Also, super middleweight contender Andy Mejias (15-0, 6KOs) won a four round majority decision over Matif Mundy (10-9, 4KOs). The scores were 39-37, 39-37 and 38-38.

The card was broadcast on NBC as part of the “Fight Night” series, promoted by Main Events.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com