Klitschko & Gamboa win!

 By Tom Donnelson

( Member Boxing Writers Assc. & International Boxing Research Org. )

 

(Wroclaw, Poland)  The Heavyweight division is the Klitschko’s brothers personal fiefdom and everyone must pay tribute by taking a licking.  Since 2004, no one has even come close to beating the Klitschko’s brothers and this past Saturday fight between Vitali Klitschko and Tomasz Adamek was no exception. Adamek, the former Cruiserweight and light heavyweight champion, proved game but no match for he was too small and did not possess enough of powerful punch to make a difference.  The other problem for Adamek, was that at the age of 40, Vitali Klitschko still possesses sharp reflex to parry of any attacks. Klitschko is one of those tall fighters who fights like a tall fighter; using his jab effectively to control real estate.  Throughout the bout, Adamek had problems with getting inside Klitschko’s jab and Klitschko averaged 40 plus jabs per round with those jabs successful blunting any attack that Adamek attempted.  Unlike David Haye, who spent most of his bout against Wladimir avoiding combat, Adamek attempted to fight.

One example of Adamek spirit and technical skills came in the fifth round in which a more aggressive approach allowed him to connect with a combination that even shook Vitali for a brief moment but those combinations were few and far between.  From the middle of the second round through the sixth, occasional rallies by Adamek gave the Polish faithful that a miracle would yet happen for their favorite son; but those moments were mere illusion in which a brave fighter managed to come up with the occasional connect but paying the price.   Adamek face at the end of the fight showed the results as all but three punches that Vitali connected hit Adamek’s face.

At the end of the second round, a Vitali right connected and sent Adamek reeling back in the rope, with the rope keeping Adamek from hitting the canvas.  The referee did not count the punch as a knockdown even thought he could.  The next time, Vitali sent Adamek reeling into the rope with another right but this time, the referee counted this as a knockdown, rightly concluding correctly that the rope held Adamek up.

The last hope for Adamek’s fans was at the end of the eighth round when a Vitali slipped while throwing a right. It looked for a brief moment that a knee may have given out but Vitali returned to form in the ninth.

Vitali connected on a variety of punches from jabs, straight rights, even a hook or two in the tenth and none of those punches were missing.  Halfway through the round, Adamek’s courage kept him up as he was getting nailed and his face swelled as a result but the referee decided enough was enough.   Adamek was game but not good enough to beat Klitschko.

(Atlanctic City, New Jersey)  Yuriokis Gamboa provided a workmanlike performance against Daniel Ponce de Leon as he consistently beat De Leon to the punch.  De Leon proved to be competitive every minute of every round but his punches did not have the same impact Gamboa and Gamboa seemed to throw one or two more combinations per round to garner a big lead on the scorecard that allowed him to easy victory over De Leon in a fight stopped by a accidental head butt in round eight. The head butt opened a gash over De Leon face and the fight was called but there was nothing to assume that De Leon was going to change the fight around.  Gamboa was not spectacular just efficient.

 

 

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