CARLOS ADAMES retained his WBC middleweight title via a controversial split draw against Hamzah Sheeraz – but he can feel aggrieved that he was not awarded the victory.
Betting favourite Sheeraz made a solid start to what was his first crack at a world title but Adames navigated a tricky opening and then took over.
The 30-year-old from the Dominican Republic confidently applied the pressure throughout and was never really hurt by Sheeraz, who had 17 KOs from 21 wins before tonight.
In the end, it looked as if the defending champion had done enough to edge the fight but none of the judges could agree on the outcome.
Barry Lindenman thought Adames won 118-110, although that seemed very harsh on Sheeraz, while Guido Cavalleri had the Englishman winning 115-114. So, when Omar Mintun Sr returned a 114-114 card, it was a split draw.
The silver lining for Adames, who moves to 24-1-1 (18), is that he at least keeps his WBC middleweight title while the unsuccessful challenger is now 21-0-1 (17) after failing to win for the first time in his career.
Sheeraz had dropped previous opponents like Liam Williams, Tyler Denny and Dmytro Mytrofanov with his jab and has honed that particular punch to perfection since his move to Ricky Funez in LA.
He started to find his range in the first round before landing with a number of hard jabs in the second, timing the advancing Adames perfectly with it. He closed the second with a double jab, right hand which the defending champion seemed to feel.
But it did little to quell Adames’ forward movement although with Sheeraz enjoying significant height and reach advantages he was struggling to close the gap and lose anything of note. For Sheeraz, this was all about discipline, giving nothing away and keeping Adames at length throughout.
Adames upped the pace in the fifth and began to throw more consistently but he was following Sheeraz around at times and struggled to really pin him down and make an impression. Even so, he won the round clearly and beat his chest when the bell rang.
There was more of the same in the sixth and Adames was starting to get closer, even firing a series of hooks into Sheeraz’s body. The Englishman, meanwhile, was landing less frequently and by the half way mark this fight was on a knife edge.
Crucially for him, Adames was growing in confidence after a difficult start while Sheeraz was struggling to keep him at arm’s length like he had early on. Adames landed with a big overhand right in the eighth but his challenger handled it well.
Adames, who was given a talking to by the referee when a few shots strayed low late in the ninth, hurtled out of the blocks in the 10th and for once Sheeraz looked short of ideas against his relentless opponent.
But he started the 11th well, sinking in a good left to the body which got the crowd on their feet. He responded by holding the centre ring and firing in another slashing left hook. The salvo was enough to make Adames hesitate and Sheeraz won the round right when he needed one.
Before the start of the 12th, Funez told Sheeraz he needed a knockout to win the title but he seemed unable to really let his hands go in order to find a shot to hurt Adames. Instead he shipped a big right uppercut himself before the 12th ended.
