Carlos Adames Fails to Shine Against Gerome Warburton

Carlos Adames doesn't just want to be known as the best middleweight in the world. He wants to be a Dominican superstar. Saturday's performance at 165 lbs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia would have done nothing to achieve that ambition, and may even have hindered it.

It was not entirely his fault that the evening's action will be swiftly forgotten. Carlos's opponent, the rangy southpaw, Gerome Warburton from Colwyn Bay, seemed overawed by the occasion. Instead of seizing an opportunity that may never come again to score a famous upset, he was content to cover up behind a high guard and throw very few punches. 

Gerome was determined to finish the 10-rounder on his feet, and so he did. Achieving his rather modest goal prompted him to perform a little dance in the ring in celebration, even though he had been absolutely dominated on the scorecards. I doubt that Turki Al-Sheikh, who had bankrolled this fight, appreciated his moves. 

The frustrating thing is that Warburton is a good fighter who could have posed problems for Adames if he'd let his hands go. But he simply wasn't willing to take the risk that would have come with a more positive approach.

Adames scored well to the body throughout the contest and landed the occasional short uppercut to the head when in close. But even though he is a big puncher, he didn't land enough to have the Welshman in trouble. He posed and threatened, but lacked the intensity to put a serious dent in Warburton.

There were a couple of body shots that caused Warbuton to retreat to the ropes, but he always quickly weathered the storm.

Adames is the Ring Magazine Middleweight Champion, but it is not guaranteed that he will continue to enjoy that distinction. The holder of the IBF belt, Ireland's Aaron McKenna is coming up fast behind him, having recently delivered impressive performances against the likes of Liam Smith and the undefeated Etinosa Oliha. 

Aaron will be in action again on the 4th December against another undefeated fighter, Latvia's Jevgenijs Aleksejevs. If he wins in thrilling fashion, the Ring Magazine may be tempted to reward him with their top spot.

Also looking good at middleweight is the Cuban southpaw, Yoenli Hernandez. He's still inexperienced with just 9 wins on his record, but all but one of them have come by knockout. Unlike Adames, he knows how to cut off the ring against mobile opponents, and systematically breaks them down. He doesn't coast like the WBC Champion.

Adames vs Hernandez would put the pride of two Caribbean islands on the line and would almost certainly provide more entertainment than the contest we witnessed on Saturday.