Adames a big threat at 160 after 'J Rock' jostle
Plus, Ioka wins, Oscar sues Ryan and mixed fortunes in New York
The new boogeyman of the middleweight division, Carlos Adames, might have forced even more future opponents to hide in the cupboard after posting a ninth-round stoppage win over Julian Williams.
The ending was fairly contentious. Many thought Williams had been halted prematurely. The victor cared little as his career resurgence continued.
Adames surprisingly came out as a southpaw, while Williams stood off and boxed rather than burrowing inside like he did against Jarrett Hurd, on his crowning evening four years ago. Capable of boxing to a high pace, Williams turned things up a notch to create an action-packed third. Adames was caught between stances as ‘J Rock’ rolled back the years with some spiteful hooks.
Adames’ best work came to the body. Would it pay off late against a 33-year-old opponent? Williams hung on as best as he could in a torrid fourth session. Adames cranked up the oven dial as the Philadelphian former unified king was thrown around the ring under relentless pressure.
Managing to fiddle his way through that round and on to the seventh, Williams looked world weary, crouched on his stool. Undeterred, trainer Stephen ‘Breadman’ Edwards called more for the left hook. That punch appeared more regularly in a solid eighth for Julian who was aiming to capitalise on Adames’ familiar late-fight fatigue.
Unfortunately, there was no way to find out if the Puerto Rican would dramatically power down like he did in his only defeat so far, against Patrick Teixeira. Veteran referee Mark Nelson slid in midway through the ninth to stop the contest as Williams, sporting a bruised left eye, shipped increasing leather from the WBC Interim champion.
Given his experience and the fact that he was ducking out of the way of some of the artillery, many felt that Williams should’ve been allowed to carry on. Edwards was incensed by the decision to end it. Crossing the ring, pointing fingers and using some industrial language (the Sky Sports apology metre would’ve exploded had they been broadcasting this event) Edwards engaged in a brief spat with Adames’ trainer Bob Santos.
Williams tried to survive and was no doubt hurt, but he was throwing a punch back as Nelson stopped it, which is always a bad look. Unsurprisingly Adames felt that the stoppage was correct and believed Williams would’ve got hurt had matters proceeded. Remarkably, one of the judges awarded Carlos Adames every round at 80-72, further endorsing Edwards’ post-fight rant that the A-Side always gets the benefit of the officials’ favour.
CAN LUBIN THREATEN THE BEST AT SUPER-WELTER?
Once one of the hottest prospects in boxing, things have not quite gone to plan for chief support Erickson Lubin. Now 27 years old, Lubin bounced back from a spell out of the ring with a fifth-round stoppage of hot-and-cold contender Luis Arias.
I was ringside back in 2019 when Luke Keeler outboxed Arias and dropped the Florida resident twice. By round three here, Lubin was finding similar gaps in the defence, snapping his right jab and curling in the left hand to dominate the “real estate” of the ring. Arias’ career has been plagued with inconsistency. After losing to Keeler he came in as a fall guy to upset Jarrett Hurd over 10 rounds. One fight later he lost Vaughn Alexander. Those three fights showcase Luis’ career in a nutshell.
No stranger to hitting the deck in the past, Arias did not seem badly hurt when he went down in round five here. He complained that the shot was behind the head and the count was tight. In his defence it seemed at first like he was ready to continue. Referee Zach Young thought otherwise and decided to stop the fight.
Arias looked sluggish and was never really in it. Some later suggested he rose slowly to initiate a soft stoppage. While it did appear to be an odd decision by Mr Young at the time, Lubin was not complaining. ‘The Hammer’ is now back in the title picture and called out the winner of the main event.
MARTINEZ EXPLODES BORNEA’S EAR
Argentina’s Fernando Martinez opened the card with an 11th-round stoppage of Filipino Jade Bornea. Martinez retained his IBF super-flyweight title but it was not all one-way traffic. Bornea presented a few problems for the champion, fighting out of an unorthodox stance, using his jab and some tasty body shots.
Things went south very quickly for poor Bornea in round nine when his right ear suddenly cut and exploded, creating a viral boxing moment. Referee Charlie Fitch was hovering with intent from that point onwards. Fitch discussed matters with the corner and doctor before round 11 and as Martinez piled on the pressure he jumped in to save the challenger from losing his ear.
IOKA WINS FRANCO REMATCH IN JAPAN
Kazuto Ioka is the new WBA super-flyweight champion after defeating Joshua Franco in Tokyo on Saturday morning/afternoon/evening. A pro since 2009, Ioka has endured some ups and downs in his career and personal life. The 34-year-old now moves on to 30-2-1 (15 KOs) in the ring.
The hometown star said before the fight that he was gunning for the knockout but in the end contented himself with a unanimous decision. The result was fair after a close affair with a clear winner. Indeed, there could only be one winner of the world title as Joshua Franco was stripped of the title after weighing in well over the 115-pound weight limit.
Photo Credit: Kyodo News
It was a surprise to see such a professional fighter miss the bar so widely. Trainer Roberto Garcia made some veiled comments about “issues” in the lead up to the fight that may have made the team believe the fight was about to be canned.
It wasn’t and went ahead as planned. Ioka had previously been called to defend the WBO super-flyweight title he won against Aston Palicte in 2019. The mandatory challenger for that belt was none other than big-punching Junto Nakatani who went on to win the vacant version (once Ioka had dropped it) last month with a knockout of Andrew Moloney. Ioka instead agreed to a rematch with WBA king Franco. The pair boxed to a draw last December in a back-and-forth clash full of heavy exchanges.
This time Ioka used feints, jabs, uppercuts and plenty of body work to take the decision. It must’ve been tough for Franco -who suffered a cut which was later smeared with globules of Vaseline- to motivate himself for the final three rounds given the fact that victory would not have been enough to see him leave Japan with a world title around his waist. Undeterred, the Texan carried on pitching in an attempt to turn things around.
Crying into the mic after receiving the verdict, Ioka has won world titles in four weight classes and will have his eye on the Hall of Fame once he eventually hangs up the gloves. Franco, meanwhile, has apparently now called time on his own career.
It’s good to see Daigo Higa fit and firing again. The Okinawa bantam scored an impressive fourth-round KO over Sirichai Thaiyen (other sponsored names are available) on the Ioka-Franco undercard. Higa’s crunching body blows made all the difference as his Thai opponent crumbled under every heavy assault.
Those assaults come thick and fast from Higa who possesses a compact power punching style that brings excitement. Back in 2018 he lost to Cristofer Rosales but it was clear that he was struggling badly to hold things together at flyweight. Now filled out at 118, despite another setback in 2021, he can still be a problem at world level.
GOLDEN BOY GO LEGAL ON KING RY
The cracks are continuing to deepen between Golden Boy and Ryan Garcia’s team. I say “team” rather than Garcia himself as it seems to be Ryan’s advisor/lawyer Lupe Valencia who is the main subject of Oscar’s ire. Golden Boy are annoyed at the amount of influence Valencia holds when it comes to negotiating fights and potentially breaching their mutual contract (signed in 2019).
De La Hoya has taken to social media over recent weeks to have a few swipes at Garcia as well as Al Haymon and Eddie Hearn. He was also angered by Garcia agreeing to a catchweight and rehydration clause in the recent Gervonta Davis fight, which were both apparently signed off by Valencia. Oscar appears to believe that Valencia is deliberately setting Garcia up to either breach his contract or undermine his ties with Golden Boy.
Tensions have been growing between the two sides
Now that Garcia has had a little taste of the good life over on PBC/Showtime he may be eager to further distance himself from an erratic promoter. DAZN wanted Ryan to spearhead their shows moving forward, so having the biggest fight of his career to date on a rival network was a blow considering how little involvement DAZN actually had in the fight.
Garcia has since been linked with a fight at 140 pounds against Rolando Romero, another PBC fighter. It's likely nothing will come of this lawsuit and De La Hoya and his crew are simply firing a few shots across, to assert their dominance over the situation.
NUTHOUSE NOTES
Once known as the one-round iceman, Edgar Berlanga’s career has taken a strange turn since he stopped knocking people out. 16 first-round KOs have now been followed by five consecutive decision victories.
The latest of which came over Irishman Jason Quigley in New York. A former quality amateur, Quigley showed his boxing skills for extended periods, before Berlanga’s power and persistence won the day. It will be interesting to see what new promoter Eddie Hearn does with him next.
Photo Credit: Sporting News
One man who left little doubt where his career is heading is punchy Pole Adam Kownacki. Once a high octane contender known for taking one to land one, Kownacki is now a high octane yardstick who takes three to land half of one. Daniel Dubois blitzed Virginia’s Joe Cusumano inside two minutes when they fought in 2021.
Cusumano looked like Tim Witherspoon in this one as he powered out a solid left jab, accompanied by neat footwork and a commendable engine. Kownacki was on a good run before bumping into Robert Helenius and has lost four in a row, with three by stoppage. The 34-year-old ‘Babyface’ needs to retire before he gets hurt.
Boxing star Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has exited his relationship of convenience with DAZN and signed a deal with the PBC. Eddie Hearn was apparently surprised at the decision but it makes sense, even if the proposed first fight against Jermall Charlo is a little underwhelming considering Charlo’s recent lack of activity. I have a list of opponents I’d like to see him face and there will no doubt be more details on this story over the coming weeks.
Thanks for reading! Drop a little heart or even a comment if you get a minute. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Speak to you all next week…
About Steve: Experienced boxing writer, author of 8 books and podcaster of over 400 eps. 15+ years in the sport. Covered hundreds of shows for newspapers and Boxing News magazine. Chief video script writer for Motivedia channel and BN+. For enquiries: stevenwellings1982@gmail.com.
Really good round up. Thanks very much