Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov Dumps Tomasz Adamek, Isaac Chilemba Wins
Photos by Rich Graessle for Main Events
by Sarah Deming
BETHLEHEM, Pa.–The Sands Casino crowd was pretty drunk by the time their favorite, Tomasz “Goral” Adamek (49–2), got roughed up by Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov (16–0). It was the finale of a soulful night of boxing courtesy of Main Events, broadcast live on NBC Sports Net. This was a classic crossroads: Adamek, a 37-year-old Polish former world champ against Czar, a 29-year-old Ukrainian upstart with an Olympic bronze medal.
I had abandoned all pretense of objectivity. The young heavyweights from my gym had been Czar’s sparring partners for this fight, and whenever the quiet, serious young pro walked through our door in his Ukrainian tracksuit, it was like a visit from royalty. I was on the Czar bandwagon, or should I say troika.
After a slow first round, both men opened up, and Czar’s superior strength was clear. From this point on, there was little hope for Adamek, especially after his right eye began to close. The 4th round was another big one for Czar, who was not only landing the harder shots, he was advancing and controlling center ring. At the end of this round, Adamek looked like he was weeping tears of blood.
The fifth was more of the same. Czar did especially good work with the hook, but ultimately it was his jab that was winning the fight. Adamek’s face was a mess, blood coming from both the nose and the right cheek. Czar looked young and beautiful, coming on. The crowd began to chant things in Polish, and Adamek rallied a bit in the sixth, but Czar got right back on the jab, stabbing to the belly as well as the head.
Like most top Ukrainian amateurs, Czar had an excellent high guard and was able to catch and counter well. Toward the end of the seventh he caught Adamek with two 1–2’s in a row that had him backpedalling. The eighth was another dominant one for Czar, who hurt Adamek with a straight right. In the ninth, it became clear that Czar was going to win. The crowd grew quiet.
The brave Pole staged a late rally, and the final round was the first of the fight in which he moved forward. Both men traded, and this was the first time in the fight when Czar seemed at all hurt. His mouthpiece fell to the canvas, and I was terrified on behalf of his teeth, but his smile was unscathed when he heard the scores of 117–110, 117–111, and 116–112.
This win snatches the #2 IBF ranking for young Slava, who is part of a strong stable of fighters from the former Soviet Union managed by Egis Klimas of Seattle, also including light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, Vasyl Lomachenko, and one of our favorite fighters from the London Games, the hard-punching Lithuanian Egidijus Kavaliauskas.
As good as Czar looked tonight, it’s hard to imagine him beating heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko. At 6’3” and just under 220 lbs., he’s small for a modern heavyweight, with an orthodox style and without the kind of power that ends the night early.
On paper, the televised undercard bout looked like a toss-up between two mid-career light heavyweights. Denis “Drago’s Son” Grachev came in at 13–2–1 (8 KOs), his Malawian by way of South African opponent Isaac “Golden Boy” Chilemba at 21–2–2 (9 KOs). Drago’s Son did indeed resemble the fictional villain, down to the awful blond flat top, and the Golden Boy did look golden under the ring lights.
The first round was close. After that, it was a boxing clinic by Chilemba, who began the show with a perfect right uppercut off a little pivot in the second round and then just kept dancing and doing damage. Drago bled from the nose after the third and from the left eye after the fourth. By the sixth round, his white trunks were red, but he just kept walking forward into Chilemba’s right hand.
One of the reasons this was such a great night at the fights was because there was a satisfying amount of violence without it ever turning cruel. Another reason was its confirmation of the importance of fundamentals. Like Czar, Chilemba won this bout with the excellence of his jab. He also threw the right hand with a greater efficiency (either straight or as an uppercut) than Drago’s lunging overhands.
At the beginning of the tenth and final round, Chilemba, a consummate pro, gave Drago a little hug in lieu of touching gloves. The judges had it 100–90, 99–91 (twice) for Chilemba.
On the untelevised undercard, Bethlehem’s Ronald Cruz (20–2) stepped up against former world champion Kermit “El Asesino” Cintron (34–5–2) in a ten-round welterweight bout. Cintron won the battle for Most Puerto Rican Outfit, with trunks composed almost entirely of the island’s flag, while Cruz confined his to a patch on the leg.
Openings the aged assassin could once have exploited passed him by, but Cintron still had straighter punches than Cruz and more finesse. They traded heavily in the second and third rounds, during which a cut opened over Cruz’s right eye. Cintron began to take control in the fourth, and the fifth was huge for him, Cruz really walking into the right hand, Cintron spinning him like a dance partner.
The sixth was a war fought at close quarters and by the end, both men were covered with blood. Most of it belonged to Cruz, who spent the seventh and eighth turtled up, pitching low blows. He rallied in the final two, but it was too late. Unlike the crowd, we were delighted to hear the unanimous scoring of 86–84 for Cintron from all three judges.
Undefeated Karl “Dynamite” Dargan of Philadelphia (14–0, 7 KOs) won every round on every judge’s card against Chaz McDowell of Hartford, who dropped to 6–5–1. McDowell looked like a tubby, diminutive Hagler with “opponent” written all over him, so it was surprising to see this one go the distance. Dynamite stalked, scoring freely with the jab and occasional flashy combinations, while McDowell played it safe.
Hopes are high for Dynamite, who took gold at the 2007 Pan-Am Games and is the cousin of his legendary trainer Naazim Richardson, but at this point he should probably be stopping guys like this.
Allentown’s Jerome Rodriguez faced Brandon Williams of Rochester in a six-round battle of undefeated southpaw light welterweights. We met Jerome Rodriguez’s darling four-year-old daughter Jelilah in the hotel lobby, carrying her father’s cup. “It makes me happy when Daddy fights,” she said. “Because he always wins.”
We didn’t think Daddy won this one. Williams had a definite strength advantage and took the first round easily. In the second, Rodriguez tried to get the momentum back, but Williams got him against the ropes and unloaded. In the third, the momentum shifted towards Rodriguez, whose better defense started to pay off.
The fourth was fairly even, perhaps the edge to Rodriguez. In the fifth, Williams looked refreshed and did some more good work against the ropes, including some brutal body shots. The sixth was his as well.
After the final bell, Jelilah climbed into the ring and kissed both boxers and the entire audience went, “Awwww!” Perhaps it was her magical power that secured her father this split draw. The judges had it 59–55 Williams, 58–57 Rodriguez, and a 57–57 from Julie Lederman.
Welterweights Nathaniel Rivas (2–0) of Bergen, New Jersey and Terrell James of Philadelphia (1–1–1) got the evening off to a suitably brutal start. James rushed Rivas in the first and bloodied him, but the 21-year-old Rivas kept composed and turned things around. The ref stepped in at 2:37 of the third round, giving Rivas his first knockout.
