Brandon Adams is ready to feel the benefit of changes ahead of his upcoming bout against Caoimihin Agyarko.
BoxingScene reported this week that a deal had been reached for an IBF junior middleweight eliminator between Brandon Adams and Caoimhin Agyarko, with the fight potentially happening on April 18.
It started ahead of his last training camp. Adams, 26-4 (16 KOs), defeated Serhii Bohachuk in a rematch of a bout that they had in 2021. The two fights with Bohachuk were pivotal. The first time, Bohachuk was a big punching up-and-comer who was undefeated, but Adams stopped Bohachuk when he was down on all three judges’ scorecards. By the time of the rematch, Bohachuk could have been considered a veteran, while Adams entered following a split decision loss in the OTX Boxing junior middleweight finals to Andreas Katzorkis. Adams had been inactive for three years before entering the OTX tournament. He also felt he beat Katzorkis. The loss frustrated him and led to a change.
“I can’t keep crying about it, I’ve got to move forward,” Adams told BoxingScene. “Now I am in the era of punishment.”
Adams detailed his approach to his second fight against Bohachuk, where the opening line set by the oddsmakers had him a bigger underdog than in the first fight.
“I boxed him, a little hitting and moving, this last fight, I made sure I stood in front of him,” Adams said. “Even when he closed his eyes, he’d see me.
“It was something I was always capable of, but I always wanted to stick to the hit and not get hit philosophy of boxing. I found myself falling in love with the [Marvin] Hagler, Roberto Duran, James Toney, style of boxing.”
Adams also signed with DMG Promotions. He likes the idea of being involved with a new promotion as he starts a new chapter in his career.
“I have been a professional boxer for just about 16 years; promoters that had been around had the opportunity to sign me,” Adams added. “I wanted to try something different. I got an opportunity to work with somebody new [DMG] who showed a lot of interest, and our vision is aligned with me becoming a world champ, and that is what we are working toward.”
Adams, who originally trained with Dub Huntley (who is still involved with his career), now trains with Trevor Sambrano. Huntley is still in the corner on fight night. In 2023, he signed with Mark Habibi to manage him.
“This is my time to shine,” Adams said. “This is an era where a fighter at my age will show that we are capable, we have so much more conviction and resilience against this new school of boxing. I am just what boxing needed to resuscitate it for the old fighters.”
Against the 29-year-old Agyarko, Adams will get his chance to live up to these words. A win put him in line to be mandatory for the IBF title. The current belt holder, Bakhram Murtazaliev, will face Josh Kelly on January 31. It will be Murtazaliev’s first defense since stopping Tim Tszyu in October 2024 to win the vacant belt.
Agyarko, 18-0 (7 KOs), won a split decision over Ishmael Davis in September, but had to survive a 12th-round knockdown. Agyarko, a 29-year-old from Belfast, Northern Ireland, has only fought in England and Ireland since turning professional in 2018.
“He doesn’t know how to lose professionally,” Adams said. “A lot of things are going to change when he is in the ring with me, of course.”
