Never Take A Fight To a Killer: Golovkin Stops Adama On Game Plan Mistake
By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent
Osumanu Adama is a masterful technical boxer. He’s a technical fighter. Osumanu Adama, the best fighter to come out of Ghana since Azumah Nelson, is one of the world’s finest technical boxers ever. However, like Billy Conn in Conn’s first heavyweight title bout with Joe Louis, middleweight title challenger Osumanu Adama either got cocky, or corner trainer Joseph Awinongya made a serious mistake in the Adama came plan to fight GGG.
In the main event of a five bout card in Monte Carlo, Monaco, Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin scored his sixteenth consecutive knockout and won his eleventh consecutive World Boxing Association World Middleweight championship bout with a seventh round stoppage of challenger Osumanu Adama. GGG Golovkin, now (29-0, 26 knockouts), Stuttgart, Germany, originally from Kazakhstan, dropped Adama, now (22-4, 16 knockouts), Joliet, Illinois, originally from Accra, Ghana, in rounds one, six and seven. A cracking left hand to the jaw of Adama sent Adama tumbling backwards out on his feet, and the bout was stopped immediately by referee Luis Pabon.
A wealthy Monte Carlo elite crowd of 900 watched the boxing card at Salle des etoiles in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The fight card was broad cast on European and Australia pay-per-view outlets, and in the Middle East by Al-Jazeera Sports,
A flash knockdown dropped Adama in the first. However, Adama settled down nicely, and was moving left and jabbing Golovkinon the move near the ropes but just out of range. Golovkin appeared to be slightly busier, but Adama did well in rounds two, three and four.
The tide changed in round five, when Adama took the fight to center ring. Adama, a masterful technical fighter, tried to slug it out with Golovkin and go to-to-toe in center ring. The change in plan had to come from the corner, where perhaps trainer Joseph Awinongya, perhaps fearful Adama was down falling behind on the cards, changed the plan to a slugfest. Adama actually did very well in the second half of the fifth round, but with GOlovkin moving forward, cutting off the ring and applying pressure, GGG began to successfully break Adama down. With Adama still mostly in front of him, GGG had a feast landing power shots, dropping Adama in round six and seven and then finishing him.
The Adama corner had some issues. It was supposed to have either former world champion Azumah Nelson or former world champion Ike Quartey working in the corner. Nelson and Quartey were either unable or unwilling to travel to Monaco from Ghana due to other commitments. This left cut man Sam Colonna, manager Wasfi Tolaymat and French Welterweight champion Ahmed El Mousaoui in the corner.
Rumors of internal squabbles between manager Wasfi Tolaymat, promoter Cynthia Tolaymat and Awinongya have plagued the Adama camp for the past 12 months. In an interview with Real Combat Media the night before the fight by telephone from Monte Carlo, the Tolaymats both assured that the internal areas of conflict in the camp had been resolved and the team was ready to go.
Adama and his trainer Awinongya claimed to have been inactive for a year trying to land the Golovkin bout, and promoter Cynthia Tolaymat was in off again on again negotiations with Golovkin’s promotional team to land the bout. The period of inactivity from March 2012 to March 2013 clearly hurt Adama, who would have been better off fighting regularly instead of suffering from inactivity in pursuit of GGG. Adama did win two comeback bouts in 2013, but was inactive again before his bout with GGG, not fighting for over six months.
Result: Gennady Golovkin TKO 7 Osumanu Adama, Middleweights (1:20)
Golovkin retains the WBA and IBO World Middleweight titles
Referee: Luis Pabon. OsumanuAdama was down in rounds 1, 6 and 7.
WBA Supervisor: Mike McAleenan. IBO Supervisor: IBO President Ed Levine.
Referee Luis Pabon stopped contest after Golovkin staggered Adama with a straight left to the chin.
In the 12 round middleweight preliminary to the main event, WBA world ranked number four middleweight Jarrod Fletcher of Australia won as disgusting 12 round dirty war by decision over WBA world ranked number six middleweight Max ‘The Tiger’ Bursak of the Ukraine. The bout stunk of the smell of fouls, with Bursak getting penalized for hitting behind the head and pushing Fletcher down. Bursak was also warned for hitting after the bell. Fletcher managed to rabbit punch all night and not get called for it. Bursak cut Fletcher over the right eye with an accidental head butt in round six. Fletcher was later cut over the right eye and on the nose. Bursak lost points in rounds two and eleven, without which he still would have lost a majority decision. Fletcher won the bout by scoring with meaningful combinations in exchanges. But it was ugly. If one of these fighters expects a future WBA world middleweight title shot against GGG, they both need to clean up their act.
Salles de Etoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Undercard Results
Jarrod Fletcher Win 12 Max Bursak, Wins WBA Continental Middleweight title
Rey Loreto KO 3 NkosinathiJoyi, Wins Vacant IBO World Light Flyweight title
Roman Belaev Win 12 Dean Byrne, Wins Vacant WBA Continental Welterweight title
IlunguMakabu KO 2 Ruben Angel Mino, Cruiserweights. Makabu now 16-1. Mino is 20-1.
33-0 Pawel Kolodziej of Poland pulled out of this cruiserweight bout with Makabu, opting instead for an International Boxing Federation World Cruiserweight title opportunity against Cuban world champion Yoan Pablo Hernandez in Germany on March 8, 2014. British light heavyweight contender Nathan Cleverly then took the cruiserweight bout with Makabu, then pulled out as well with recurring back problems. The Argentinian fighter Ruben Angel Mino then stepped in and took the bout on short notice. Despite his 20-0 record, Mino, the South American Cruiserweight champion, looked short, chubby, and old at age 39, and his padded record got exposed.