Adamek scores controversial decision over Cunningham...

The first reaction was stunned disbelief. It usually works that way when a live boxing crowd and two of three judges think they saw something entirely different.
That’s what happened Saturday afternoon before a sellout crowd of 1,950 at the Sands Bethlehem Events Center, as heavyweight Tomasz Adamek was awarded a 12-round split-decision victory over Steve Cunningham.
It could have been tagged, “loser go home,” since whoever lost this fight seemed destined for heavyweight opponent status while the winner would be able to live another day.
That wasn’t the case this time.
While judges Debra Barnes saw it 115-113 and Dave Greer 116-112 for Adamek, judge Tom Miller saw it for Cunningham, 115-113. Greer and Barnes gave Adamek three of the last four rounds.
Punch stats, however, told a different story. It told the story of Cunningham up on his toes, outboxing Adamek throughout much of the fight, outlanding him 209 to 169 in total punches, using his jab very effectively, connecting on 129 of 349 jabs.
But Greer and Barnes apparently were looking at power shots, which Adamek, to his credit, outlanded Cunningham, 120-80.
Cunningham seemed to stick with a game plan, using his seven-inch reach advantage to keep Adamek at what seemed to be a safe distance. But toward the end of each round, Adamek came aggressively forward and did tag Cunningham a number of times with shots to the head.
The fight came in stark contrast to the first meeting between the two, on Dec. 11, 2008, when Adamek wrested the IBF cruiserweight title from Cunningham, who was knocked down three times but still battled to a 12-round split-decision loss.
“What can I say, what can I do? Real men cry, real men shed tears,” a very emotional Cunningham said. “You can’t knock everyone out. We did our thing in the ring. It saddens me. I’m a two-time former world champ, I’m not Bernard Hopkins. I need these wins, I can’t be getting cheated like this. It’s sad, man, it’s sad. It’s nonsense. What needs to be done in boxing for this not to happen again? This isn’t a game. What else do I have to do?”
Adamek, who weighed 223 for the fight, felt he won by landing more power shots. As had been the case in 2008, the Polish fighter again had a vocal contingent of supporters, chanting “Adamek! Adamek! Adamek!” and “Polska! Polska! Polska!”
“The fight was close. My trainer told me I had to go after him after the eighth round, and I felt he ran against me,” Adamek said. “It was part of the plan to come on late in the last 20 seconds of each round. In a few rounds, I tried to attack him, and he would run. He ran, he didn’t fight. I fought. It’s why I won.”
Cunningham countered that he was not running, but boxing: “That’s what I did, I did the same thing that he did against Chris Arreola, when he boxed. He never touched me on the chin. I felt I had good head movement, and I fought smart. I plan on staying at heavyweight. I’m not going anywhere. I’m a heavyweight.”
Adamek will now move on to fight Kubrat Pulev, with the winner scheduled to take on universally recognized world champion Wladimir Klitschko.
“It all depends on what you were looking at,” Adamek trainer Roger Bloodworth said. “If you looked at effective punching, which is what the judges saw, they would have to give this to Tomasz. If you liked running and being a stylist, then you wanted Cunningham. I think the more effective puncher won this fight, and that was Tomasz.”
Adamek's Polish co-promoter, Ziggy Rozalski, was also pleased by the result. Asked as he walked through the casino what he thought of Adamek's win, Rozalski said, "He got a Christmas present."

http://ringtv.craveonline.com/blog/176575-adamek-scores-unpopular-decision-over-cunningham

i watched it. it was a close fight, could've gone either way, I didn't think it was a huge robbery or anything. Adamek looked strong towards the end and was definitely landing harder punches, and pushing the pace.

For going 4-0 in 2012, Tomasz Adamek had kind of a rough year. After patches of difficulty against Nagy Aguilera, a highly debatable win over Eddie Chambers, and a scare against Travis Walker, Adamek won a split decision today in Bethlehem, Penn., over Steve "USS" Cunningham, but almost nobody agreed with the two judges who gave it to the popular Pole.

Even the announcement of the scores was a debacle, as Michael Buffer initially read it as a split draw, with scores of 115-115, 116-112 Adamek, and 115-113 Cunningham. But the 115-115 card was corrected as 115-112 Adamek, which itself is hard to figure in a 12-round fight with no knockdowns and no 10-8 type rounds, giving Adamek the win. Bad Left Hook scored it 116-112 for Cunningham from the TV broadcast, and our own Ryan Bivins had it 118-111 for Cunningham on press row. Sports Illustrated writer and NBC Sports interviewer Chris Mannix said on Twitter that "no one" on press row had it for Adamek.

Adamek (48-2, 29 KO) was a bit sluggish throughout the fight, and the 36-year-old once again looked like he's inching past his better days. He's still a very good fighter, and has the heart of a lion (I hate cliches, but Adamek deserves them), and he's as fun to watch as anybody in the sport over the middleweight division.

Adamek's a great guy, but he didn't win this fight. Cunningham (25-5, 12 KO) controlled the majority of the fight with his jab and his movement, and landed plenty of eye-catching power shots, to boot.

The only way I can personally figure Adamek winning on two judges' scorecards was his habit of rallying late in rounds and trying to steal them in the last 10-30 seconds. Otherwise, it's just too hard for me to figure out how the fight could have been scored for Adamek, who gave a fine effort and deserves all the respect in the world for that, but simple and plain, did not win this fight.

It's a shame that once again, this is the discussion, because it was a good fight. But it's hard to accentuate the positives when the negatives are so clearly a major, constant issue in this sport.

http://www.badlefthook.com/2012/12/22/3796304/adamek-vs-cunningham-ii-results-scores-robbery-split-decision-buffer-nbc-boxing-news

Boxing's return to NBC, network television, certainly delivered on entertainment value but was unfortunately marred by controversy yet again. Fans were treated to a top level boxing match but only die hard Tomasz Adamek fans could have been satisfied with the result. For the majority of the fight Steve Cunningham took Adamek to school. Honestly, you could have given Adamek every remotely close round and Cunningham still beat him. To make matters worse the fight was initially announced a draw before the even scorecard (from Debra Barnes) later came back 115-113 Adamek. Because Dave Greer also scored it for Adamek (116-112), Tom Miller's 115-113 score for Cunningham could only salvage Cunningham a split decision loss.

From press row I had the fight 118-111 Cunningham, giving Adamek rounds 8 and 12 while scoring the 11th even. At best I saw 4 rounds to give to Tomasz, which is how unattached promoter Russell Peltz told me he had it. Cunningham picked Adamek apart with the jab the entire fight and rocked him multiple times by following up with the right hand. But unfortunately neither the judges nor Tomasz saw it that way. It's not unusual for a fighter to believe he deserved to win a poor decision, but the way Adamek completely dismissed Cunningham's boxing clinic in the post-fight presser was just too much to bear. Check out that press conference and interviews with Steve Cunningham, trainer Nazim Richardson, and stable mates Eddie Chambers and Jamaal Davis below.





Whether we like it or not Adamek is still the IBF North American heavyweight champion and will likely be allowed to move on to a showdown with #1 IBF ranked Kubrat Pulev. No matter how badly Adamek was dominated in some rounds, particularly the 10th, at least one judge scored every single round for him. Nonetheless I predicted Cunningham would beat Adamek and I'm going to predict Pulev will do the same. Fortunately for Pulev I even like his chances of stopping Adamek. But even if Adamek manages to rob Pulev as well, he clearly stands no chance of beating Wladimir Klitschko.

But the pay check for losing to Wladimir should be enough to make Tomasz happy, and perhaps happy enough to retire. Adamek may have 4 official wins in 2012 that would rival most, but it was NOT his year. At 36 years of age after many brutal fights from light heavyweight to heavyweight, I think Adamek is well on his way out.

http://www.badlefthook.com/2012/12/23/3797162/adamek-vs-cunningham-ii-results-steve-cunningham-puts-on-career

Judge Tom Miller scored the bout 115-113 for Cunningham, while judge Deb Barnes had it 115-112 and judge Dave Greer had it 116-112 for Adamek. It appears Barnes’ card was totaled incorrectly and should have been 115-113.

http://www.fightnews.com/

Barnes' was 115-113 but incorrectly announced 115-112. You can see it from the scorecard obviously, but the 115-112 announcement was a mistake.

I just watched the fight, for the first time. I wrote my assessment as I watched it, and here it is. I actually scored the fight for Adamek, but it could've gone either way, or been a draw, and I wouldn't complain at all.

....

Finally watching it. Not easy to score under these circumstances, but here goes it.

1. Even (Close as hell)
2. Adamek (Close as hell)
3. Cunningham (Cunningham racked up a lot of work in the start of the round. Adamek isn't just looking to steal rounds though, contrary to the announcers. Cunningham is not fighting a full 3 minutes, and Adamek comes on when Cunningham becomes inactive.)
4. Adamek (Close as hell) This isn't an easy fight to score so far, except round 3. Even round 3, Cunningham let off the gas and Adamek almost did some work to close the distance, but not enough to make up for the deficit.
5. Adamek (Cunningham holding back too much, letting Adamek walk in, not making him pay for the real estate).
6. Adamek (Cunningham had the best single punch of the round, but Adamek answered with a combo that partially landed--I mean some of the punches got in. Adamek controlled most of the round. Another close round. Cunningham is giving Adamek too much respect. Still, very close round).
7. Cunningham (The rounds I have scored for Cunningham are basically still close, but a little bit more clear in his direction. He isn't fighting a full 3 minutes, which is a little bit of a pet peeve of mine. He is trying to put something in the bank, and then use his legs to drift through the round. It is backfiring, because that allows Adamek to in fact put in aggression. Adamek landed some good shots at the end. I still give it to Cunningham.)
8. Cunningham (Close as hell. Cunnhingham not fighting 3 minutes leaves Adamek the opportunity to fill in the gaps.)
9. Adamek (This one wasn't that difficult). I haven't totaled up my score as I've recorded it, but almost every round is close, and could be argued either way imo. A couple rounds are clearer, this is one. The bottom line, Cunningham seems like he could be doing better, but he either won't, or can't, fight 3 minutes in a round. This leaves an opportunity to Adamek. It also doesn't reflect well on him. In a very close round, sometimes the benefit of the doubt will go to the closer. It isn't Adamek just trying to steal rounds imo.
10. Cunningham (His best round. And even so, Cunningham still taking breaks in the middle of the rounds. This was a clear Cunningham round, but when he takes breaks is when Adamek does his best work. Cunningham is shooting himself in the foot. That, or he doesn't have the gas tank to fight 3 minutes.)
11. Adamek. (Cunningham fought well for the first minute, Adamek did better for the latter two, and Adamek did land some decent shots in the round.)
12. Adamek (Another close round. I liked Adamek's effective aggression. Again, Cunningham doing too much cruising and too much holding. Still, a toss up.)

So the tally, I had it 7-4-1 Adamek.

Most of the rounds toss ups. The first round was really close, often it is hard to score opening rounds because they are feeling out rounds, especially in a fight like this, where there is so little to separate the guys in so many of the rounds. Round 1 perhaps Cunningham. Even if so, still 7-5 Adamek for me. Bottom line, there were so many close rounds. Not a robbery at all. A very close fight. Cunningham could've won the fight, but he couldn't fight 3 minutes of a round, and he left the door open for Adamek. If he could've fought the full 3 minutes of the rounds, the fight didn't even need to be close. Adamek did all of his best work when Cunningham stopped fighting.

I don't see the controversy at all. The match was razor-thin regardless.