Polsat Boxing Night gala: spectacular wins for Adamek and Masternak
Tomasz Adamek (53-5, 31 KO), a former two-weight world champion, stopped the dangerous and powerful Joey Abell (34-10, 32 KO) in the main event of the Polsat Boxing Night gala in Częstochowa after a superb spectacle. The American did not launch a determined attack from the opening bell. Instead, he hunted for counters and tried to draw “Góral” into exchanges. Adamek was quick, however, and in the first round he focused mainly on body shots.
In the second round, both men went to war in the open. At one point, they threw left hooks simultaneously. The Pole landed, but Abell did not even blink. It seemed that the American’s physical advantage would be enormous. A dozen seconds later, however, Adamek landed a thunderous right cross and sent his opponent to the canvas. Abell was hurt but immediately came forward. A 10-8 round for the Pole.
In the third round, Abell recovered his strength and began pushing “Góral” back onto the ropes, where he hunted for heavy hooks. Adamek surrendered the initiative, but late in the round he landed a right hook to the jaw. A count was once again close. Both men were moving through a minefield, and with this style, sooner or later one of them had to pay a heavy price.
The warrior from Gilowice outpointed the Minnesota strongman for almost the entire fourth round. Right at the end, however, he momentarily lost concentration and was slightly shaken by one of the hooks. The fifth round brought the entire Częstochowa arena to its feet. Both men were throwing bombs at each other. For every punch Abell landed, Adamek answered with five or six of his own. The American was in serious trouble at least three times.
The sixth round was another showcase for Adamek. First, he unleashed a long combination upstairs, and when Abell raised his hands, the Pole crashed a right hand into the solar plexus and sent him to the canvas for the second time. Joey rose at nine, absorbed several more hard punches, but made it to the bell. After the break, “Góral’s” pressure did not let up. Adamek trapped his opponent on the ropes and swarmed him with punches. Abell was counted again. The demolition continued until the end of the seventh round. When the American went down once more, the referee did not even begin a count and immediately stopped the fight.
Revenge is sweet. Mateusz Masternak (41-4, 28 KO) had waited four years for a rematch with Youri Kalenga (23-5, 16 KO), who had previously beaten him by split decision. In Częstochowa, the Wrocław native put on a show, avenged his defeat to the Frenchman and captured the WBO European cruiserweight title.
“The Bull” once again looked for wide but very powerful hooks. Masternak either caught them on his guard or slipped them, controlling the bout with his jab. In the second round, he landed two left hooks to the jaw. Kalenga attacked more aggressively in the third, but “Master” cooled his enthusiasm with an excellent right cross. Many fighters would have gone down after a shot like that, but not “El Toro.” A moment later, he felt a left hook under his right elbow even more keenly; it was set up by a feint upstairs.
The fifth round was one of Masternak’s best performances in several years. First, he lulled his opponent with a series of jabs before suddenly landing a right hook. Moments later, he repeated the move, this time finishing with a powerful right cross. Kalenga “danced,” although Mateusz apparently did not notice. Before the bell, the Frenchman’s head was snapped back several more times by accurate punches.
Increasingly battered, Kalenga threw desperate hooks in the sixth round, but they missed their target. Masternak consistently broke him down with the jab. When the bell rang for the seventh round, the Frenchman remained in his corner, while the Pole fell into the arms of Zygmunt Gosiewski, Piotr Wilczewski and Piotr Wojnowski. Can he do it? He can. Master is back!
Adam Balski (12-0, 8 KO) passed the toughest test of his career by defeating respected Denis Grachev (16-7-1, 9 KO). The first round was quiet for a long time, but half a minute before the end, the Pole stepped up the pace, extended his combination and deservedly won the round 10-9. Balski was dynamic and punched quickly, although the experienced Russian defended skillfully and tried to take the initiative.
The second round also belonged to the fighter from Kalisz. His speed was impressive, although he lacked clean connections. Late in the third, Balski landed a powerful right hook and followed up with a left. Grachev did not make much of it, however. In the fourth, the Russian surprised his opponent with two right hooks, began applying pressure and increasingly forced Balski onto the ropes.
Our countryman came alive in the fifth round. He scored with the jab, then found the target in a brief exchange late in the round. After the break, he raised the tempo and landed several hard punches, but Grachev had taken worse shots in the past. He did not panic and continued to execute his plan. Balski experienced a slight crisis in the seventh, but from the start of the eighth he attacked sharply again and caught the Russian with eye-catching punches from both hands.
Down the stretch, Balski tried to break his opponent. He put everything he had into him but could not finish the job. He did win on the judges’ cards, however: 97-93, 97-93 and 99-91. The test was passed.
After a layoff of nearly three years, Damian Jonak (40-0-1, 21 KO) defeated Marcos Jesus Cornejo (19-2, 18 KO). Before the end of the opening minute, the Pole landed a hard left hook. He had not yet found the perfect distance, and many of his punches cut through the air, but with each passing minute he found his rhythm.
Late in the second round, Jonak knocked his opponent down twice. First he landed a left hook to the forehead, then a right hook by the ropes. As the referee was completing the second count, the bell rang to save the Argentine. In the third, Damian focused on body shots, while in the fourth he once again hunted for the head. He landed a spectacular right uppercut but did not follow up, allowing his opponent to escape danger.
Cornejo was chaotic and uncoordinated at times. He posed little danger offensively, but remained constantly in motion and was difficult to hit cleanly. At the start of the final, eighth round, Jonak landed a right hook. Instead of following up, he backed away with a grimace of pain and boxed mostly with his left hand thereafter. After the final bell, the judges had no doubts. They all favored Jonak, scoring the bout 80-70.
Ewa Brodnicka (15-0, 2 KO) defeated Sarah Pucek (8-3-1, 1 KO) and made the first defense of her WBO super-featherweight world title. The Pole imposed her style from the opening bell, using pressure to force her opponent onto the ropes. The challenger was technically sound and occasionally managed to counter, but she lost the fight mentally. She had a good fourth round, but the rest belonged to Brodnicka. The judges scored it 100-90, 97-93 and 99-91.
Robert Parzęczewski (20-1, 13 KO) remains unbeaten in Częstochowa. This time, Tim Cronin (11-2-1, 2 KO) learned the power of his punches. “Arab” opened with a hard right to the body and a jab. Midway through the first round, he caught the Canadian with a jab as he came in and shook him. Cronin dropped to one knee, and the referee counted to eight. It was not a heavy knockdown, however, and the Canadian champion quickly recovered.
At the start of the second, Parzęczewski lost his rhythm somewhat, but everything returned to normal in the second half. Before the break, he landed a powerful left hook that sent Cronin into the ropes. The second knockdown came half a minute before the end of the third. Robert waited for his moment and crashed home with a left hook. There was little time left before the bell, so he could not finish his wounded opponent.
The next three minutes were further torture for the Canadian, although he deserves credit for taking the punches bravely and trying to respond. The pace dropped slightly in the fifth, but Parzęczewski remained in control throughout. Half a minute before the end, referee Jankowiak stopped the fight. The Pole first shook his opponent with a left hook, then pierced his guard with a right. Cronin hit the canvas for the third time and had no desire to continue.
Battered and bleeding, Łukasz Wierzbicki (16-0, 6 KO) defeated Michał Żeromiński (13-4-1, 1 KO) for the second time, defending his Polish welterweight title. Wierzbicki started better. First he landed a short right hook, then followed with a left cross. Żeromiński pressed forward, but Łukasz countered and cooled his enthusiasm.
Wierzbicki punched harder in the second round, but Żeromiński answered courageously. A real war broke out. Łukasz went to his corner bleeding heavily from both eyebrows. Michał sensed blood and stepped up the pace even more from the start of the third. “A mask of blood!” shouted the excited Grzegorz Proksa. In the corner, Tomasz Skarżyński did everything he could, but the blood was pouring freely.
The following minutes brought a war of attrition. Heavy punches landed, but neither fighter was willing to retreat. The fifth round was one of the best in the history of Polish professional boxing. Żeromiński landed early, while Wierzbicki responded late. Michał’s legs buckled, but just two seconds later he was charging forward again. What a war.
The sixth and seventh rounds were close, with a slight edge to Żeromiński. In the eighth, Wierzbicki found his rhythm again and controlled the action with his jab. The final six minutes saw Michał hunting for the big punch that could turn the fight around. Łukasz worked his feet brilliantly, however. With one minute remaining, he countered with a short right hook to the chin. Żeromiński was in trouble again, but after a brief crisis he moved forward once more.
After the final bell, both fighters received well-deserved applause. The judges were unanimous: 96-94, 96-94 and 98-92 for Wierzbicki.
In the opening bout of the gala, after a very good spectacle, Michał Chudecki (11-2-2, 3 KO) and Damian Wrzesiński (13-1-2, 5 KO) fought to a draw. It was a fair verdict, because both left an enormous amount of heart and health between the ropes. The Poznań “teammates” came out aggressively from the start. The fight was chaotic at times, but it was full of determination and nonstop exchanges.
The first two rounds were close, with a slight edge to the better-organized “TNT.” In the third, “Wrzos” took control, landing two left hooks. In the fourth, Chudecki outboxed his opponent with his footwork for more than two minutes, but Wrzesiński answered with two genuinely powerful left hooks.
Midway through the fifth, both men began bleeding heavily after an accidental clash of heads. Late in the round, Chudecki hurt his opponent with a left cross to the jaw. The next three minutes were extremely even. Wrzesiński’s conditioning was expected to be an advantage, but Chudecki was the more active fighter in the seventh.
In the final round, Damian found a way to deal with his opponent. Instead of throwing the left, he feinted it, slipped the attacks and drew Chudecki onto a straight right. It was a shame he began doing this so late, because the tactic was effective. After the final bell, both men raised their hands in victory. The judges were split: 77-76 for Wrzesiński, 77-75 for Chudecki and 76-76. A draw.
source: bokser.org
