By CompuBox
Chalk one up for professionalism, tenacity and conditioning.
Because of these traits, former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek is now a player in the heavyweight sweepstakes. His 12 round decision over the courageous but outclassed Chris Arreola was achieved largely with a determined stretch drive that saw Adamek’s speed trump Arreola’s power.
Adamek swept all three CompuBox categories. In total punches he was 197 of 631 (31 percent) to Arreola’s 127 of 532 (24 percent). In total jabs he was 69 of 322 (21 percent) to Arreola’s 60 of 319 but Adamek’s most surprising success was in total power punches, where he nearly doubled Arreola’s success (128 of 309, 41 percent to 67 of 213, 31 percent).
Adamek’s leads were mostly achieved in the fight’s final six rounds. During that stretch Adamek out-landed his bigger rival 95-55 overall, 35-28 in jabs and 60-27 in power shots, mostly because the Pole’s output was superior (53.8 to 44.6 punches per round). Adamek threw more punches than Arreola in all but the first round (when each threw 41) and out-landed his antagonist in all but the sixth (when Arreola led 20-18).
Arreola’s output issues are the direct result of his conditioning. When he weighed a svelte (for him) 239 pounds against Chazz Witherspoon, Arreola unleashed 61.3 punches per round and landed 59 percent of them. His output plunged to 27.0 when he weighed 254 against Travis Walker, 36.5 when he weighed 255 against Jameel McCline and 33.1 when the 251-pound Arreola faced Vitali Klitschko.
Still, Arreola is most dangerous against a fighter who will brawl with him, so although he weighed 263 against Brian Minto, he was able to average 52 punches in four rounds of work. If he is to regain a prominent place in the division, he must buckle down and get his body in prime shape to unload tons of firepower.
Meanwhile, Adamek has retained a semblance of his light heavyweight volume. In his two classic wars against Paul Briggs he averaged 74.0 and 82.2 punches per round, while in his heavyweight debut against a faded Andrew Golota the 214 ½-pounder churned out 69.2. The number dropped to 50.8 against Jason Estrada when he weighed a career high 220 ½ while against Arreola it was 52.6. Adamek must strike a delicate balance between having enough bulk to make his fellow big men respect him while possessing enough of his small-man speed and output to out-score them.
According to PunchZone, Adamek did most of his damage to Arreola’s head but paid enough attention to the body to keep Arreola guessing. Of his 145 head connects, 79 were produced by the right hand, 58 by the left while just eight targeted the chin. The 50 body shots were almost evenly distributed as the left logged 23 hits and the right 27, with two straying below the belt.
Arreola’s attack was heavily head-oriented as the distribution was 107-20. Of the head blows, the left registered 52 connects, the right 26 and 29 struck Adamek’s chin. Arreola’s body hooks hit 12 times while the right landed on eight occasions. None of his body shots strayed low.
In the co-feature, Joel Julio tried to duplicate the blueprint Kermit Cintron used to decision Alfredo Angulo last year – steady movement, sharp punching and staying close in terms of output. The difference was that Julio could not maintain the strategy for the entire distance. That – and Angulo’s power – came to the fore in the form of an 11th round stoppage.
Mostly due to his excellent work in round two through four (when he created a 68-38 edge in total connects while averaging 90.3 punches per round), Julio managed to end up leading in two of the three CompuBox categories. Julio was 175 of 762 (23 percent) to Angulo’s 167 of 880 (19 percent) overall and led in jabs (54 of 420, 13 percent to 45 of 512, 9 percent). The Mexican boasted a one-punch lead in power connects (122 of 368, 33 percent to 121 of 342, 35 percent) and in the end that one punch was all he needed to secure the win.
As usual, Angulo was a punching machine as he averaged 76.2 punches per round over the first 10 stanzas, topping off at 101 in the eighth. After falling behind in the first four rounds, his pressure eventually eroded Julio’s energy; from the fifth until the 10th Angulo averaged 84.6 punches per round to Julio’s 66.
Worse yet, Angulo’s steady work in the middle and late rounds allowed him to turn around the balance of power in power connects. In the first four rounds Julio led 50-37 but in rounds five through the 11th, Angulo landed 85 to Julio’s 71.
The PunchZone maps indicate a more balanced offense from Angulo as 107 connects struck Julio’s head and 60 hit the body. Of the head shots, the right produced 49 hits and the left 37 while 21 struck the chin. As for the body shots, Angulo connected with each flank 30 times.
Conversely, Julio’s attack was heavily head-centered as 155 of his 175 total connects hit there. His left produced 70 connects, his right 61 while 24 connects targeted the chin. As for his 20 body shots, the right logged 13 connects while his right hit seven times. Neither man registered a low blow.
