By Jake Donovan
Former lineal cruiserweight king Tomasz Adamek made his mark as a legitimate heavyweight contender Saturday evening after taking a convincing – yet poorly scored – decision win over Chris Arreola at the Citizen Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California.
The only real chance for Adamek - who at 217 lb was outweighed by more than 30 lbs - to win was to box and avoid the heavy artillery of the naturally larger Arreola. Such was the game plan, followed to a tee by Adamek for the first four rounds, though never completely let off the hook by his heavyweight contemporary.
Both fighters were active by not terribly accurate in the first round, one that saw Adamek’s skills prove far more effective than Arreola’s will. Movement was offered by Adamek in the second, though he planted his feet long enough to gain Arreola’s respect with a right hand that landed flush early in the round.
After another round of being thoroughly outboxed, Arreola finally let his hands go at the start of the fourth. Adamek appeared genuinely stunned by one of the several right hands that landed and also dislodged his mouthpiece while was pinned on the ropes.
The Pole would spend nearly the entire frame without his gumshield, which says that much about the pace as neither fighter budged an inch or even attempted to clinch. The latter part had the potential to serve as Adamek’s undoing. He boxed his way through most of the fifth, but a right hand put him on rubbery legs with a minute to go in the round.
Arreola immediately raced in to follow up, but the closest he’d come to ringing Adamek’s bell was a straight right hand that wobbled but didn’t seriously hurt Adamek as the round came to a close. However, the sequence produced greater long-term moments, specifically the belief that nothing Adamek had could harm Arreola.
Such is how the Mexican-American fought the sixth round, taking control of the fight and daring the former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion to fight back. Adamek tried to oblige, but the most effective punch he landed was a low blow that drew a warning from referee Jack Reiss.
With every punch thrown by Arreola came raucous cheers from the partisan crowd on hand. Of course, the opposite proved true anytime Adamek opted to box instead of trade. But the tactic proved wise, as Adamek managed to regain control of the fight behind effective movement and clean punching in the seventh and eighth rounds.
Less movement was offered by Adamek in the ninth, partially due to a much better job by Arreola of cutting off the ring. But as he ramped up the offense, he neglected to block any of the incoming, resulting in greater damage to his already cut and swollen face.
Desperation kicked in for Arreola in the tenth, charging forward in hopes of landing a home run. He came damn close, landing a right hand early in the round and following up with another right and an uppercut to send Adamek in reverse and on the defensive.
Just when momentum threatened to swing back in his favor, Arreola jammed his right hand when a shot landed the wrong way on Adamek’s head. He spent the final minute of the tenth round not throwing a single meaningful shot wiuth the right, instead loading up on left hooks.
Despite no major belt being at stake, the action ramped up as the bout entered the championship rounds. Arreola sucked up whatever pain was setting in and threw everything he had into a right hand that caught Adamek along the ropes.
Several more right hands found their way home midway through, along with a left hand to send Adamek across the ring. It appeared to be his last big moment, as Adamek offered a 30-second drill to end the eleventh.
Realizing the moment slipped away, trainer Henry Ramirez demanded his fighter to suck up the pain and take the final round. The same was asked of Adamek by his corner, who picked up on Arreola’s injury and insisted to their charge that he was facing a one-armed fighter.
The presence of an injury gave Adamek a greater sense of security, standing his ground far more often in the 12th and final round, moving only whenever Arreola literally ran forward in search of something dramatic. The moment would never come, as Adamek was perfectly content with potshotting his way down to victory, of the belief that he had the fight in the bag.
Most would agree, but strange scoring almost prevented the obvious from becoming a reality. The California State Athletic Commission added another footnote to its disgraced recent history, as Adamek was forced to settle for a majority decision.
Judge Tony Crebs somehow saw the fight even at 114-114. Fortunately, his scoring peers actually watched fight, with tallies of 115-113 and a more respectable 117-111 providing Adamek with his third straight win as a heavyweight.
He improves to 42-1 (27KO) as he continues his quest to become the first fighter in boxing history to have won titles at light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight. The former lineal cruiserweight king gave up his crown shortly after sending countryman Andrew Golota back into retirement with a 5th round stoppage last October.
A less impressive showing followed, struggling to impress in a decision win over Jason Estrada earlier this year, but he made his presence felt as a heavyweight contender to be reckoned with after winning on the road.
To his credit, Arreola never even attempted to take the bait and run with the shoddy scoring, instead immediately acknowledging that the right guy won the fight in the end.
His honestly and down to earth personality is refreshing, but it’s not helping him win fights. After having went undefeated through his first 27 fights, Arreola has now dropped two of his last three as he falls to 28-2 (25KO).
The bout served as the live televised main event on HBO’s Boxing After Dark.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .
