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Last night at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, FL, “Bad” Chad Dawson outboxed Tomasz Adamek but had to climb off the canvas to take the Polish fighter’s WBC Light Heavyweight title on a packed Don King card.
Also on the bill, Julio Diaz was declared the new IBF Lightweight Champion when Jesus Chavez injured a knee in the third round and was unable to continue, Cory Spinks retained his IBF Light Middleweight belt with a comprehensive 12 round shutout over challenger Rodney Jones and former WBC Cruiserweight titlist Wayne Braithwaite hit the comeback trail with a seventh round stoppage over Gustavo Enriquez.
The main event saw Chad Dawson use superior handspeed and a southpaw stance to baffle Tomasz Adamek for nine rounds. Dawson never let Adamek get set to punch and the Pole seemed lost and unable to throw in the face of the American’s quick footwork. As the pace slowed at the midway point of the bout, Adamek began to enjoy limited success but that paled in comparison with the wide variety of offense that Dawson was using to rake the champion to both head and body.
Adamek went down after taking a body shot in the seventh but looked to be more off balance than hurt. The European came roaring back to have his best round of the contest to that point but was still being picked off at will by Dawson.
The next two rounds again saw Adamek unable to let the punches fly as Dawson improved upon his ever widening lead by scoring with his heaviest shots of the bout.
Disaster nearly struck in the tenth for Dawson when Adamek caught him on the inside with a perfect right hand. Dawson hit the canvas but beat the count and managed to finish out the round. For the next two frames a tired Adamek tried his best to stop Dawson but the southpaw put his speed of hand and foot to good use to finish out the fight.
Dawson, 23-0 (15), swept the score cards with marks of 118-108, 117-109 and 116-110 and is now the new WBC Light Heavyweight Champion. During the post fight press conference, Adamek, 31-1 (21), cited Dawson’s speed as a major factor in the loss but vowed to return and regain a world title.
In the co-feature, lightweight Julio Diaz used his height and reach advantages to boss IBF Champion Jesus Chavez for the first two rounds. At the start of the third frame, Chavez threw a jab before collapsing to the canvas in pain from an injured knee. Unable to continue, Chavez, 43-4 (30), was counted out and Diaz, 34-3 (25), declared the new IBF Lightweight Champion.
38 year old Rodney Jones, 37-4-1 (22), finally got another world title shot seven years after losing a close decision to Harry Simon in 2000 but Cory Spinks, 36-3 (11), completely outclassed the veteran over 12 rounds by scores of 118-109 and 120-108 (twice) to retain the IBF Light Middleweight title for the first time.
Making a comeback after suffering back to back losses in 2005, ex-WBC Cruiserweight kingpin Wayne Braithwaite, 22-2 (18), stopped Mexico’s Gustavo Enriquez, 15-7 (12), in the seventh round.
Showtime Boxing’s Report:
In a near shutout, 24-year-old “Bad” Chad Dawson took the World Boxing Council (WBC) light heavyweight title from tough Polish champion Tomasz Adamek by unanimous decision in his first world title fight Saturday at Silver Spurs Arena at Osceola Park in Kissimmee, Fla. In a bizarre co-feature on the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING world-title doubleheader, interim lightweight titleholder Julio Diaz won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title by knockout over embattled veteran Jesus Chavez.
The exciting night of boxing was presented by Don King Productions in association with Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, before a capacity crowd of 5,000-plus and aired live on SHOWTIME at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast).
Dawson, on the biggest stage of his six-year career, turned in his most complete performance. Adamek-Dawson, a battle between two undefeated fighters, was a “pick “em” fight going in and turned into a near one-sided beating of the champion. Dawson of New Haven, Conn., by way of Hartsville, S.C., won by scores of 116-110, 117-109 and 118-108 to improve to 23-0. Adamek dropped to 31-1.
“He was brilliant,” said blow-by-blow announcer Steve Albert. “It was a masterful virtuoso performance. We have a new star in the light heavyweight division.”
With blistering hand speed and powerful punches, Dawson controlled the first nine rounds, his confidence building as the fight wore on. Adamek, in his third world title defense, had no answer but to weather the growing storm and hope for a chance knockout.
Then, in the 10th round, Adamek got the break he needed. He caught Dawson flush with a straight right hand and Dawson went down. After the challenger rose to his feet, Adamek attacked with desperation, but it was too late.
Dawson used his foot speed and quick hands to elude and defend against Adamek for the remainder of the round. With that, Adamek won his first round of the night.
Dawson regained his focus in the 11th and 12th to win both rounds on two out of three scorecards and punctuate a decisive victory.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said the young champion who was nearly overcome with emotion in a post-fight interview with Karyn Bryant. “I knew I could do it and no one can take that away from me. Floyd Mayweather was the difference for me. He’s the best and it paid off. I am on top of my game.”
Later in the interview, Dawson’s promoter Gary Shaw dropped the names of Antonio Tarver, Roy Jones Jr., and Bernard Hopkins as potential challengers for his world champion.
In the co-feature Chavez, a two-time world champion from Austin, Texas, suffered a fight-ending knee injury at 22 seconds of the third round. Diaz had dominated the bout behind a solid jab and won each round on all three scorecards.
Early in the third, Diaz, of Coachella, Calif., continued to lead with his jab. Chavez, in retreat, seemed to slip, twisting his right knee as he collapsed to the canvas in agony. Chavez tried to regain his feet but went down again as the referee reached the count of 10.
“This is yet another bizarre and unfortunate incident, not only in his career, but in his life,” said SHOWTIME color analyst Al Bernstein.
In addition to having persevered through injuries to both shoulders in recent years and a left-knee injury early in his career, Chavez was making his first start since he won the IBF lightweight belt in a bout against Leavander Johnson on Sept. 17, 2005. After that fight, Johnson slipped into a coma and died days later from a brain injury. Just returning to the ring could be considered a victory for the 34-year-old fighter who dropped to 42-4.
“It was a little weird,” said Chavez, seated in the center of the ring for his post-fight interview. “It just sort of gave out and that was my good leg. It’s been hard. I’ve had injuries and I just want to apologize to the world. I fight with my heart and this is disappointing.”
Diaz, the 2000 “Prospect of the Year” in USA Today, captured the outright IBF 135-pound title for a second time and improved to 34-3.
“He needed to be 100 percent to face me,” said Diaz. Then, looking ahead, Diaz added, “Everyone is talking about Juan Diaz. Right now, there are too many Diaz’s in the division. It’s time to get rid of some of them.”
The exciting telecast will re-air on SHOWTIME and the premium network’s multiplexes this week as follows:
DAY CHANNEL (BOLD; UNDERLINE; ALL CAPS)
Monday at 8 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME EXTREME
Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME TOO
Wednesday at 11 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME
The producer of the SHOWTIME telecast was Ray Smaltz with Bob Dunphy directing.
