Adamek Brutally Knocked Out by Molina, Spectacular Triumph for Cieslak
Eric Molina (25-3, 19 KOs) knocked out the always game and tough Tomasz Adamek (50-5, 30 KOs) at the Polsat Boxing Night event in Krakow. The American of Mexican heritage started very cautiously. From the opening seconds, Tomek worked behind his left hand. They were not powerful punches, but his jab operated like a machine. Three minutes passed that way. Molina was clearly lulling his opponent into a false sense of security and waiting for an opportunity to land a powerful counter. At the start of the second round, he missed with a right cross and an uppercut, but eventually caught Adamek with a right hook. The Pole clearly felt the shot. Molina launched an attack, but after a moment he once again gave up the initiative.
The third round unfolded in a similar fashion. For two minutes and 50 seconds, “Goral” had complete control, but right at the end Molina once again rocked him with his right hand. “I told you, watch out for that. He’s only waiting to counter with the right hand,” Roger Bloodworth thundered from the corner. The American increased the pace slightly in the fifth round. Adamek was more alert, however, and it was confirmed that a cautious Molina can be more dangerous than an attacking one. Even so, Eric was warming to the task with every minute and increasingly tried to break through the Pole’s guard with sharp right hooks.
Molina looked very good in the sixth round. He consistently landed a hard right hook to the ribs, creating openings for shots upstairs. In the seventh, Adamek had to change his plan and began trading with the bigger and stronger opponent. It seemed Molina was breaking “Goral,” but once again he showed that he can be especially dangerous when hurt. In the eighth round, he seized the initiative and landed several solid rights to his opponent’s head.
The ninth round was the most exciting and dramatic. Tomek went to war with the stronger Molina. He absorbed several powerful punches, but he was the one dictating the action, and twice he visibly rocked his opponent with a right cross. Boxing, especially in the heavyweight division, can be brutal, though. Molina stopped attacking and began waiting for his chance. He got it almost exactly with the bell. He slammed a perfect right cross into Adamek’s jaw, sending him crashing heavily to the canvas and through the ropes. The round was over, but the bell does not save a fighter from being counted out. Leszek Jankowiak counted “Goral” out.
Michal Cieslak (12-0, 8 KOs) is demolishing one opponent after another, even as the level of opposition continues to rise. This time, the respected Francisco Palacios (23-4, 14 KOs) learned firsthand what the Pole can do. The bomber from Radom started in his customary style, applying intense pressure and firing powerful shots with both hands, alternating between attacks upstairs and downstairs. The Puerto Rican accepted the challenge. He kept moving backward, but tried to answer.
Midway through the second round, a short left hook from Cieslak stunned his opponent. Palacios quickly clinched and survived the crisis. The elusive fighter was taking heavy punishment, but he was also making many of Michal’s punches miss. The Pole changed tactics and increasingly worked the ribs with hooks against the two-time world title challenger. In the fourth round, after two body shots, Cieslak landed a powerful left hook. The Puerto Rican cleverly used the ropes, but survived for only a few dozen seconds. Michal slipped a left straight from his opponent and blasted him on the jaw with a right hook. Palacios hit the canvas and struggled to rise by the count of eight. The referee allowed the bout to continue, but after two more punches, he stepped in to prevent a serious knockout.
In a clash between two of Poland’s leading heavyweights, Andrzej Wawrzyk (32-1, 18 KOs) stopped Marcin Rekowski (17-3, 14 KOs). “Reks” started aggressively, but after a brief flurry both men stood in the center of the ring, looking for an opportunity to land a big shot. Wawrzyk lulled his opponent with several “lazy” left hands, then fired a fast right to the jaw. Rekowski went down. As Leszek Jankowiak counted to eight, the bell rang.
After the break, Marcin tried to close the distance, but he could not get inside against the much taller opponent, who used his feet and jab well. In the fourth round, Rekowski began his attacks with shots to the body, but still could not find an answer to “Gulliver.” Wawrzyk opened the fifth round with an effective jab, then added two hard right crosses that broke his opponent’s nose. This enraged Marcin, who launched a sustained assault late in the round.
For two and a half minutes of the sixth round, everything went his way. Rekowski backed Wawrzyk onto the ropes and began to gain the upper hand. Suddenly, however, the retreating Andrzej slammed home a right uppercut. Marcin’s legs buckled. He went down and rose with great difficulty, clearly suffering from balance problems. The referee allowed the fight to continue because only a few seconds remained before the bell, but Rekowski absorbed two more heavy bombs and barely made it back to his corner. The one-minute rest proved too short. At the start of the seventh round, Wawrzyk landed a left hook, Rekowski “danced” again, and Leszek Jankowiak quickly stopped the bout.
Mateusz Masternak (37-4, 26 KOs) successfully returned to the Polish ring and to the guidance of Andrzej Gmitruk. “Master” comfortably outpointed Eric Fields (24-4, 16 KOs). He began with body shots, but in the first round twice found the American with a right cross. In the second, he looked for right-versus-right exchanges and the right overhand. At the start of the third round, the former European champion added an effective left straight, using it to set up his opponent for the right hand.
After the break, Masternak consistently worked the body and boxed safely behind his jab. He slowed slightly, but picked up the pace again in the fifth round. He punished Fields with right crosses and hooks. The pattern remained unchanged in the sixth, although the American tried to apply pressure. The Pole calmly absorbed punches on a tight guard. Late in the seventh round, Fields landed his first truly clean shot, a hard right hook, but it made little impression on Mateusz.
Masternak continued to control the action. In combinations of three or four punches, even when he hit the guard, at least one shot got through. Late in the ninth round, he hurt his opponent with a short left hook, but the bell rang immediately afterward. “Master” continued to dominate over the final three minutes. The only thing missing was a knockout. There was no suspense when the decision was announced. The biggest mystery was judge Tuszynski, who awarded Fields one round with a score of 99:91. The other two judges scored it 100:90, because there was simply no other way to see the fight.
Michal Syrowatka (14-1, 4 KOs) had waited four months for a rematch with Rafal Jackiewicz (48-15-2, 22 KOs) after his unexpected stoppage defeat. Known for his distinctive sense of humor and musical ring walks tailored to his opponents, Rafal chose the telling song “Will You Dance with Me One More Time?” this time. Things were already interesting before the fight.
Syrowatka started cautiously, targeting the body. Late in the opening round, he attacked more boldly. Jackiewicz, meanwhile, hunted with a wide right hand around his opponent’s ear. After the break, he grazed Michal’s chin with a long right straight, but Syrowatka quickly answered with a left hook. In the third round, Syrowatka relaxed, got his feet moving and consistently battered the left side of the body with right hooks. He capped the sequence with a nice right hook.
Jackiewicz started the fourth round well, but the closing stages again belonged to Syrowatka. Michal repeated his attacks and fired combinations of two or three punches. Just after the start of the fifth round, a powerful right hook under the left elbow took Rafal’s breath away. His opponent stood still for nearly a minute. Shortly before the bell, Jackiewicz suffered a cut to his left eyebrow after an accidental clash of heads.
Syrowatka found his rhythm and, seeing his opponent in trouble, increased the pace further. In the seventh round, the roles from their first fight were reversed. It was Jackiewicz hunting for a single knockout punch, while Syrowatka boxed calmly and took advantage of his excellent footwork. His advantage grew further in the eighth and ninth rounds. The faster and more accurate Michal began combinations with a right to the body, immediately following up with left and right hooks upstairs.
In the final three minutes, Jackiewicz came forward, but Syrowatka, having learned from his experience in December of the previous year, boxed sensibly and remained disciplined defensively. He absorbed one solid left hook, but Rafal was no longer able to do more. The judges scored the fight 96:94, 96:94 and 98:93—all in Syrowatka’s favor.
With tears in her eyes, Ewa Brodnicka (10-0, 2 KOs) explained her decision to withdraw from her fight with Anita Torti (9-5-1, 3 KOs). “This is a great tragedy. I’m truly sorry. It turned out that the knee injury is serious. The doctors did everything they could. There were injections and nerve blocks, but nothing helped. I’ve cried quite a bit today. I apologize to everyone. At best, this injury will keep me out for four weeks, and in the worst-case scenario, even six months. Fighting today could have led to an even more serious injury. I will definitely face Torti, but only when my health allows it,” Brodnicka said.
Ewa Piątkowska and Sasza Sidorenko agreed to fight the Italian, but she declined after briefly considering the offer. She is waiting for “Kleo.”
Source: bokser.org
