Two favored fighters taken to the edge of the upset loss
This past Saturday night two favored fighters headlining cards on different coasts of North America ran the risk of losing to their upstart minded opponents as their enemies came to steal their thunder. Enterprising cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek looking to try his luck in the heavyweight division got all the heavyweight action he could handle from the slick Jason Estrada and lightweight titlist Edwin Valero was tested by Antonio Demarco as he was forced to fight with a huge gash over his head opened up by a Demarco elbow.
Adamek is being built up by his promoters as an attraction in the heavily Polish populated Newark, NJ area and in this sense enjoyed a distinct hometown advantage at the Prudential Center that Estrada with no huge following of his own could not overcome with his solid counter punching style alone. Estrada consistently connected with a counter left hook and an occasional right hand that found Adamek's head while Adamek looked to land straight left right one two combos with mixed results. Estrada made himself an elusive target and looked to counterpunch which he did successfully but not often enough to take the rounds according to the judges. Adamek was aggressive for the first half of the fight but during the last three rounds he was visibly tired and uncharacteristically back pedaling. The crowd which was solidly behind Adamek during the fight, seemed to sense in the last rounds that defeat was possible for their hero as he gutted through the latter part of the fight. The Pole sported a mouse under his right eye and had the look of a marathon runner who just finished a 100 mile marathon while Estrada looked relatively unscathed at the final bell. The judges score cards read 115-113, 116-112 and a confusing 118-110 all in favor of Tomasz Adamek. Estrada protested vehemently during after the scorecards were read and at the post fight conference.
Meanwhile in Monterrey, Mexico the crowds rallied around 24 year old Mexican hopeful Antonio Demarco (23-2-1) as he faced the hard punching WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero whose victories have all come by knockout. Valero won the first round by sheer aggression but faced his first in ring crisis as he suffered a major gash on the right side of his head the result of an errant Demarco elbow which followed a right hook attempt. Valero's cut man openly admitted that he could not close the wound but Valero was allowed to fight with the crimson mask for the rest of the fight. Demarco's corner seemed to be working to force the stoppage on cuts that there man was able to open up in the first round by landing some stinging jabs but they were unable to contain Valero's fighting spirit as he seemed to fight like a man possessed and tore into Demarco every time he backed him into the ropes. The challenger's best chances to score the upset were in the beginning rounds when it seemed that the free flowing blood from the wounds on Valero would sap him of his strength. But Valero never let up and it was Demarco who did not answer the bell for the start of the tenth round. The southpaw champion maintained his flawless record of wins by knockouts as it now stands at 27-0 with 27 KOs.
Valero is a beast!
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