With the introduction of the Special and General Theories of Relativity, Albert Einstein revolutionized the way we look at the world. His theories helped to introduce a new idea to observation. That idea was perception. Not only is the object or event important but also where a person is viewing the object or event. Depending on where I stand that will determine how I perceive the event.

How does this relate to Adamek vs. Cunningham II?

I fully intend to answer that question. However, let me start at the beginning, or at least at the end of the fight. I do not consider myself a boxing judge. I am a writer, a critic, and a fan of boxing. I do at times score a fight for my own personal record. I did score the fight, and I scored it for Steve Cunningham, 7 rounds to 5, or 115 to 113. Immediately following the fight, the controversy began. I was asked by nearly everyone on press row how I scored the fight. The majority I spoke to scored it for Cunningham, one scored it a draw.

The controversy followed to the post-fight press conference. Steve Cunningham made it clear that he believed that he was cheated of the win. Several in the room agreed with him. Alright, the majority of people in the room agreed with him. He based his belief on the fact that he out-boxed Adamek, meaning that he more effectively utilized his jab and movement. While it is true that Cunningham landed more punches than Adamek, Adamek landed more power punches. And Adamek based his belief that he won the fight on this fact. He told the press that he landed the “stronger” punches. Tempers began to flare among press and guests, and it looked as though there might be another fight to report.

While driving home with all this playing over and over in my head, I decided to do something I usually try to avoid. I record all the fights I can, but I do not watch one again until I submit my article. This time I decided to watch the recorded fight and then write. New perspective of the same fight. This time I did not take notes. I simply watched to get an overall impression. After watching the fight, I reread my notes from the fight.

Here is what I discovered from my notes. I made a list of which rounds I thought definitely should go to Cunningham. Now remember, these notes are my first impressions of the fight. I found that I had four rounds that definitely had to go to Cunningham. I only had two rounds that definitely had to go to Adamek. That leaves six rounds that are up for grabs between the two fighters.

This is where perspective and relativity come into play. Not only does it matter from where a person observes the fight but also what preconceptions that person brings. What is a judge looking for before giving a round to a fighter? What are we as fans looking for in a fight or fighter?

Steve Cunningham effectively used his jab throughout the fight. Early in the fight it was clear that he was frustrating Adamek. Adamek said that he wanted “to make more war” but was unable to because of the way Cunningham was boxing. As long as Cunningham was utilizing his jab and lateral movement, Adamek was having trouble. Cunningham was having little trouble slipping his jab through the defenses of Adamek. It was also notable throughout many of the rounds that Adamek appeared to wait until the last twenty to thirty seconds of the round to come on strong.

Adamek had his most success when Cunningham failed to move side to side and instead stepped backward. At these times, Adamek was able to cut the ring and force an exchange with Cunningham. This seemed to be happening more and more in the later rounds, and Cunningham’s answer for this was to clinch.

While Adamek claimed that he was never hurt during the fight, Cunningham appeared to stagger Adamek in the sixth round. He even appeared to stun him in the seventh. Adamek appeared to hurt Cunningham in the eleventh round. After catching him with combination after combination, it looked as though Cunningham might be ready to go down. Cunningham’s boxing skills are what helped him survive that round. Adamek staggered Cunningham again in the twelfth.

There are those who say, and you can find it all over the boxing sites, that Cunningham what robbed because he was more active and landed more overall punches. But this is not amateur boxing. Judges do not score fights simply by who landed the majority of punches. If they did, I would have to call into question the fact that a fighter can lose every round and win by a last round knockout. Judges have and should have many criteria to score a fight. Not only who is landing the most punches but also who is landing the most effective punches has to be considered.

This is where the debate comes in when it comes to boxing. Different judges will see it differently. Boxing even encourages this. If all judges were expected to see the fight the same way, then they should all sit on the same side of the ring. The one thing I realized watching the broadcast was that there are things you see from the perspective of the camera that you do not see from the floor, and vice versa. The fight was close. The scores reflected that. Boxing is a subjective sport, and unless boxing returns to fighting until one fighter cannot continue, it will continue to be a subjective sport. While some may see this as a weakness of the sport, I see this as what makes boxing interesting, exciting, and yes, sometimes frustrating.

I feel that I must mention one other thing. As to the score that was announced wrong by Michael Buffer, many out there are saying that the score was altered after the fact. I do not believe that to be the case. I have seen the Official Boxing Ballot and it all looks in order. In fact, the 115-115 score seems to be a misreading by reading Tom Miller’s and Deborah Barnes scores together. I saw the ballot within minutes of the fight ending. Conspiracy theorists will concoct all sorts of stories, but I see no reason to believe that the scores were not on the up and up.
 

While I am sure that no one in Main Events expected the controversy in the Adamek and Cunningham fight, they did expect a strong debut for Heavyweight Vyacheslav Glazkov on American television. At the same time, I don’t think anyone expected the ending that Tor Hamer gave. It started as a slow fight. In the first round, Hamer used his jab to keep distance between himself and Glazkov. Glazkov ended the round with a short flurry of shots. Hamer was moving more in the second round. There were a couple of exchanges early in the round. Glazkov landed a hard jab to the head. Glazkov came alive in the fourth round. He landed several blows to the head and body of Hamer. Hamer’s only defense seemed to be to clinch and try to tie up Glazkov long enough to get a rest. Even as Hamer was trying to move away, Glazkov landed another effective combination of shots. That was it for Hamer. He quit on his stool and little explanation was given other than he did not want to continue. It seems that Hamer has a decis
ion to make as to whether he wants to continue in this sport because the fans do want to see a man who quits on his stool half way through a fight.
 

The untelevised undercard was stolen by Lightweight Naim Nelson in his fight with Osnel Charles. Nelson easily controlled the fight from the second round to the end. Charles was having little luck getting anything through Nelson’s up raised arms in the second. He was effectively countering and landing the cleaner shots. In the third round, Nelson was chasing Charles down and caught him in the corner. Although Charles was able to fight his way out, Nelson still easily won the round. Charles complained of low blows in the fourth and fifth round; however, it looked as though neither was low and Charles was just looking for a chance to rest. In fact, Nelson finished the fifth round by knocking Charles around the ring. The fight continued this way to the eighth and final round. Nelson won by unanimous decision.

Junior Welterweight Jerome Rodriguez dominated the two rounds of his fight with Edwardo Stith before the stoppage. Rodriguez won by TKO.

Welterweights Julio Angel De Jesus and Korey Sloane fought to a majority decision draw.

Heavyweights David Williams and William Miranda also fought to a draw.