Madison Square Garden, New York City - Carlos Adames of the Dominican Republic remained undefeated by unanimously outpointing Alejandro Barrera on Saturday night.
Adames (14-0, 11 KOs) won by scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 in the 10-round welterweight bout on the undercard of the lightweight championship bout between Vasiliy Lomachenko and Jorge Linares.
“I’m ready for the top guys in the welterweight division. I am not afraid of anyone.” Adames said.
Adames, who hadn't fought in the U.S. since his fourth pro bout back in 2015, pounded away with body shots in the early rounds but took plenty back as the fight went on from Barrera (27-5, 17 KOs), whose only stoppage loss came against IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr.
“Barrera was a tough opponent, but getting the win was the most important thing, and now I can move forward to bigger fights and bigger events. I hurt him a few times, but he was a warrior. I congratulate him," Adames said.
The card at Madison Square Garden also featured victories for a number of unbeaten former Olympians.
The most impressive was Teofimo Lopez (9-0, 7 KOs), a New Yorker who fought for Honduras in 2016. He boasted he would be the star of the card and didn't disappoint, dropping Vitor Freitas of Brazil with a looping right hand that caught him near the back of the head and knocked him under the ropes.
Freitas (13-2) was struggling to regain his balance and get up when the fight was stopped at 1:04 of the first round.
"I love this. I live for this. I told you guys that this is The Takeover. I've been training hard and I'm always ready to put on a show for all the fans," Lopez said.
"I started throwing my jab and just connected with a solid clean hook. I have the power to hurt people. I'm not here to play."
