It was a courageous effort from Day, but at the end he was simply overwhelmed by the power and strength of the heavy-handed Adames, who pulled away in the late stages of their 10-round bout to earn scorecards of 98-91 and 97-93 (twice).
In the first half of the fight, it was the quickness and boxing ability of Day (17-3-1, 6 KOs) that troubled the strong but oftentimes plodding Adames (18-0, 14 KOs), who landed his thudding punches only sporadically as Day employed intelligent movement.
But in the ninth round, Adames, 25, began to catch Day more often with his right hand, and for the first time, you could see Day beginning to wear down as Adames brought more pressure.
"Tonight was about getting work in," Adames, a native of the Dominican Republic, said afterward. "I listened to my coach, Robert Garcia. This was my second fight with him, and it was about getting good rounds, and we did that. In the 10th round he told me [Day] was ready to go. If I had one more minute, I think I would've finished him, but in the end, I think it was a very good performance on my behalf."
He said he dedicated the bout to countryman David Ortiz, the former Boston Red Sox star who was recently the victim of an attack in the nation's capital, Santo Domingo.
"He's Dominican. We love each other. No matter what happens, if there's violence, we stand together," Adames said. "I represent the Dominican Republic with a lot of pride. Anybody who steps into the ring with this Dominican fighter is going to go out."
Final Punch Stats
Code: Select all
FIGHTER TOTAL JABS POWER
Adames 140 of 428 (33%)31 of 165 (19%) 109 of 263 (41%)
Day 112 of 490 (23%)7 of 193 (4%) 105 of 297 (35%)
