Boxing’s middleweight champions and other elite fighters in the 160-pound category seldom bring up Carlos Adames’ name when discussing possible opponents.
When he defeated Sergiy Derevyanchenko by unanimous decision in a 10-round fight on December 5 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Dominican challenger established himself as a legitimate top middleweight contender.
The Majority Vote Loss of Derevyanchenko, Adames Contends
Adames argues that the majority vote defeat of Derevyanchenko does nothing more than making him a high-risk, low-reward investment.
Adames told BoxingScene.com via a translator, “I feel like it’s not just [Jaime] Munguia and not just [Jermall] Charlo, but the whole 160-pound division is avoiding me.” Their unwillingness to look me in the eye is telling. I’m helpless in the face of reality.
Currently, I can only deal with what is directly in front of me. Indeed, Montiel currently fills that role. So, I’m going to go ahead and tackle that battle. I have no control over what other people do or don’t do.
On October 8 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, WBC number one contender Adames (21-1, 16 KOs) will face WBC number six contender Juan Macias Montiel (23-5-2, 23 KOs) in a 12-round battle for the WBC interim middleweight championship.
Showtime will carry Adames-Montiel as the co-feature before the main event of the tripleheader, a 12-round fight for Sebastian Fundora’s WBC interim super welterweight championship against another Mexican challenger, Carlos Ocampo (34-1, 22 KOs), of Mexico City.
After Montiel handed Charlo a tough battle 15 months ago, if Adames were to win the WBC middleweight championship, Charlo of Houston would be required to defend his title against Adames.
In 2023, if the perfect chance presents itself at 168 pounds, Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) might make the jump to fight Maciej Sulecki (30-2, 11 KOs) of Poland in an optional championship defense.
Interim Middleweight Championship of the WBC
Even if Adames wins the interim middleweight championship of the WBC, he does not anticipate a bout with Charlo.
Since he has already faced me before, with less at stake, I think he would want to avoid me,” Adames remarked.
Now, with everything on the line, I don’t believe he could handle that type of pressure, and I expect him to avoid it in any way possible. I’d love to square up against him, but I doubt he could handle it. Charlo, who is 32 years old, hasn’t fought since defending his championship against Montiel, a much stronger opponent than expected, in June 2021 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Originally scheduled for June 18 at Toyota Center, Charlo, and Sulecki’s “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event was canceled due to Charlo’s back injury sustained during training.
Adames, now 28 years old, owes much of his success as a middleweight to taking training more seriously than he did when he was a contender at 154 pounds.
Patrick Teixeira (31-4, 22 KOs) of Brazil defeated Adames, a skilled fighter, by majority decision in their 12-round contest for the vacant WBO junior middleweight championship in November 2019 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
The fight was stopped in the seventh round when Adames was downed. Derevyanchenko (14-4, 10 KOs) of Ukraine opened as a roughly 3-1 favorite, but a determined Adames won on two scorecards (97-93, 96-94, 95-95) on the undercard of the Gervonta Davis-Isaac Cruz fight over 10 months ago.
Finishing Line
For Adames, “there was a before and after, essentially before the battle versus Derevyanchenko and after,” he said.
“Because I didn’t have the sort of squad that I have around me today before I faced Derevyanchenko.
I wasn’t as well-prepared as I am today, nor did I have as many resources as I have now. A victory like that would certainly raise eyebrows in the middleweight class. My abilities were on full display for everyone to see.
And now that I can get ready even more efficiently, it only goes to show that I haven’t even scratched the surface of my potential when it comes to beating Derevyanchenko. What’s to come is much better.
