HOUSTON, TEXAS–Houston, Texas showed up for Jermall Charlo (28-0) tonight in his WBC middleweight title defense against Tv’s The Contender champion Brandon Adams (21-2) at The NRG Arena.
Charlo dominated in every facet of the fight, which opened with Adams taking a cautious approach and working in timid combinations while Charlo consistently came over the top with a speedy overhand right.
The crowd was clearly in thirst of fireworks and a knockout that unfortunately never came, but it wasn’t by lack of effort from the WBC middleweight titlist. At times it looked almost as if Charlo was punching a fire hydrant in Adams, unloading big power punches only for the smaller man to keep coming forward.
Adams applied a gutsy gameplan and pressed Charlo on the inside in the early 300 dollar loan same day and middle rounds, only to be teed off on by Charlo with body shots and uppecuts, to the pleasure of the Houston crowd. The most significant reaction came in the final seconds of the third round when Charlo landed a picture perfect uppercut on the chin of Adams.
While Adams never really was able to get the better of Charlo in a given round he did have his moments, landing stiff right hands sporadically throughout the late rounds, that however did not seem to slow up Charlo’s effort.
The crowd launched into a “Charlo” chant at a few points in the late rounds, hoping to speak a knockout into existence, but Adams was just too game and finished the fight out on his feet. To the surprise of nobody in attendance the final scores read in favor of Charlo at 119-109 and 120-108 two times.
“I wasn’t frustrated that I didn’t get the knockout,” Charlo told SHOWTIME’s Hall of Fame ringside reporter Jim Gray following the fight. “This is boxing and he came out to box. I came out to fight. It was a good fight. The city of Houston, I’ll be back.
“My hand will be alright. I hurt my hand in like the second round but I kept throwing it. It was obvious my jab wasn’t flowing.”
“I was coming up here to win,” said Adams. “I was coming to try to take him out in his hometown. He did what he was supposed to do. He’s a champ for a reason and I take my hat off to hm.
“He’s a much bigger guy, period. I just tried to put my best foot forward and tried to take him out at the end.”
“Canelo has done a great job of being a champ, Golovkin also,” said Charlo. “Those guys are at the top but there’s always a young underdog and a lion ready to take over. That’s me.”
Erickson Lubin (20-1) looked every bit the star he has been projected to become against French veteran Zakaria Attou (29-6-2).
Lubin stalked the 37 year old with superior hand-speed and peppered in power shots to make an early statement. It was clear that there was blood in the water early on as Attou spent most of the bout on a backstep offering little resistance.
Lubin’s arsenal finally become too much in the middle of the fourth round as he caught Attou in the corner and strafed him with loaded up power shots until Attou fell forward for the knockdown. The Frenchman stumbled to his feet only for his corner to throw the towel prompting the stoppage.
Erickson Lubin moved to 21-1 and acknowledged to Jim Gray his next outing likely will not be for a title, but expressed interest in a marquee name like Austin Trout or Terell Gausha as an opponent.
“I feel like I just came ready,” said Lubin, who has been training with Kevin Cunninham for the last year. “I was just a few steps ahead from the opening bell. I knew I was going to come out here and dominate. After a few shots, he looked hurt. I was going to keep teeing off until he was down or out.
“I don’t think the Jermell Charlo fight was too soon, there was just a few mishaps in camp. My next fight won’t be for a world title but I definitely want to get in there with a top-10 kind of guy. I just want to prove that I’m one of the top fighters.”
“I’m heartbroken about the injury,” said Attou. “My strategy was to start picking up the pressure after the sixth round. I know that Lubin has never been 12 rounds before, so our plan was to come on in the late rounds and take him out.”
Featherweights Eduardo Ramirez (22-1-3) and Claudio Marrero (23-3, 17 KOs) kicked off the televised portion of the card with an evenly matched display of high-speed chess in the early goings of their eliminator showdown.
The slight underdog Marrero picked up the pace in the third round unloading a nice barrage with Ramirez backed up to the ropes before the Mexican native turned the tide and pivoted his way into an offensive onslaught of his own.
The two southpaws continued to trade blows into the middle rounds, with Marrero consistently finding a home for his jab and following up with clean power shots. Ramirez shook off a few stiff power shots and continued to counter with hard shots of his own to the delight of the Houston crowd.
The back and forth action continued into the late rounds with fatigue setting in on both sides. Neither fighter was able to create a clear separation in the later portion of the bout making for some challenging rounds to score.
Both fighters embraced and pled their case to the crowd following the final bell. Despite a game effort from Ramirez the scores read 116-112 115-113 118-110 in favor of the Dominican southpaw Claudio Marrero.
My strategy was to pressure him all night and break him down,” said Marrero. “He was an awkward fighter that was hard to solve, but I thought I did a good job as the fight went on. I could feel that he was weak in the body so I attacked there and did it well.
“I’m ready for anybody. I always step to the plate and fight who’s in front of me. Bring them on. Leo Santa Cruz could definitely get this action next.”
A disappointed Ramirez said he thought he won the fight. “I disagreed with the judges,” said Ramirez. “I thought it was close but that I won. I dominated enough of the fight to earn it.
“I went forward with my typical Mexican style and attacked all night. I wanted to target the body and I thought I did that well. I want the rematch with Claudio Marrero, that’s my goal.”
