Adamek beats Gunn to defend IBF cruiserweight title

Adamek beats Gunn to defend cruiserweight title

NEWARK, N.J. — Tomasz Adamek successfully defended his International Boxing Federation cruiserweight world championship Saturday night with a fourth-round technical knockout of Bobby Gunn.

Adamek, a Polish native who now lives in Jersey City, N.J., dominated the fight from the outset and improved his career record to 38-1 with 26 knockouts. Gunn, who hails from Hackensack, N.J., fell to 18-4-1.

Adamek stunned Gunn with a powerful overhand right in the fourth round, buckling the challenger’s knees, but he signaled to Adamek that he was not seriously hurt by shaking his head. Adamek appeared shocked that Gunn didn’t go down, especially after ending the round with a flurry of 17 unanswered punches.

After the bell, referee Earl Brown went to Gunn’s corner and stopped the fight, giving Adamek the victory.

“The doctor looked at the cut (over Gunn’s left eye) and recommended that I should stop it,” Brown said. “I was ready to give him a little longer.”

Gunn believed Brown should have.

“I didn’t even see the blood,” Gunn said. “I couldn’t believe he was stopping it. Honest to God, I wasn’t hurt. I could have gone on.”

Adamek, who was clearly ahead on all three cards, didn’t question Brown’s actions.

“It wasn’t my decision,” Adamek said. “I always believe in going into the ring healthy and leaving healthy. That should work for both of us. Obviously, the fans wanted to see more.”

Adamek used his left jab with ease in the first round, then scored at will in a clearly one-sided second round, hurting the challenger several times with an assortment of powerful right hands.

“My jab is my No. 1 weapon,” Adamek said. “Other than my straight right, I use the jab a lot.”

Although Gunn was the New Jersey native, it was clearly a pro-Adamek crowd, with several of the 7,000 or so fans waving the Polish national flag and chanting “Polska, Polska,” with every Adamek punch. Adamek fought for the third straight time at the Prudential Center and has become a crowd favorite in each of those bouts, all three victories.

Adamek used his left jab with ease in the first round, then scored at will in a clearly one-sided second round, hurting the challenger several times with an assortment of powerful right hands.

The shorter Gunn tried to counter with a left hook that scored a few times, but never really hurt the champion. Adamek displayed a host of combinations in the third round to take firm control of the bout.

“He tried something and it didn’t work,” Adamek said. “I realized what was going on. I’m an experienced fighter and it was a puzzle that was easy to solve. He got hit with a lot of hard shots.”