Some boxers just have the wrong style for certain higher-profile fighters. That appears to be the case with Brandon Adams and Serhii Bohachuk.
Adams made it 2-for-2 against his Ukrainian rival, defeating Serhii Bohachuk once more Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. This time, instead of a shocking come-from-behind knockout, the Los Angeles-based Adams won a wide decision, dominating from start to finish to win a unanimous decision atop the preliminary portion of the undercard supporting the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Terence Crawford main event.
Two judges scored the fight 98-92, while the third had it 99-91, all for Adams, who raised his record to 26-4 (16 KOs) and kept his career alive for another big fight.
In their first fight back in 2021, Adams was trailing on all three scorecards in their 10-round scheduled fight when a left hook dropped Bohachuk, leading to an eighth-round stoppage.
This time, Adams used a steady body attack from the opening round, mixing in left hooks around the elbows and between the guard to break his rival down. Bohachuk, who dropped Bohachuk to 27-2 (24 KOs) with the loss, decided to meet fire with fire, standing in close and trading punches with his heavier-handed opponent. Still, Bohachuk was able to find the gaps in between Adams’ gloves to land uppercuts. While Bohachuk was able to land better with combinations, it was Adams whose punches were doing more damage, moving Bohachuk with partial lands.
Adams began to take over the action in the fourth round as Bohachuk’s plan of staying in the pocket began to catch up with him. Bohachuk began to make a conscious effort to create distance, but the investment to the body that Adams had already made meant that Bohachuk couldn’t keep up with the pace Adams had set.
Adams began to sit down more on his power punches in the sixth, taking advantage of Adams’ decreased output. The overhand rights and left uppercuts were the most effective blows for Adams, while Bohachuk’s power began to fade. Adams froze Bohachuk momentarily with an overhand right in the seventh, but Bohachuk was determined – however foolhardy it may have been – to avenge his prior defeat with all-out offense. Instead, it was Adams, who, despite being six years older at age 36, got stronger as the fight went on, while Bohachuk was out of answers.
The loss was the first for the Ukrainian since his majority decision last year against Vergil Ortiz Jnr, whom he dropped twice. The loss comes at a bad time for Bohachuk, who was rated No. 1 by the WBC at 154lbs, while also being in the top five of the IBF and WBO rankings.
Adams hadn’t fought since losing a split decision to Andreas Katzourakis last November.
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
