Brandon Adams turned defeat into victory with two punches Thursday night.
The one-time title challenger, face to face with big puncher Serhii Bohachuk, was behind on the cards and slipping on a wet ring in Puerto Rico with time winding down when the tide turned instantaneously.
Adams hurt Bohachuk with a left hook late in Round 8 and moments later ended the scheduled 10-round junior middleweight fight with the same punch, maintaining his contender status in the process.
Bohachuk, who had stopped his first 18 opponents, will have to rebuild.
“Man, I just tried to dig deep regardless of whatever was happening during that fight,” Adams said. “It was me against him. I had to embody that and use all the strength I had to connect on those punches.”
The conditions inside the outdoor ring in Guaynaba weren’t ideal, as both fighters had trouble with their footing.
And Adams was stalked by the aggressive, hard-punching Ukrainian the entire fight, which evidently began to wear him down. Adams alternately engaged Bohachuk toe-to-toe and moved in and out, a strategy that was effective at times.
However, he appeared to take more and more power shots as the fight progressed. Adams, who lost a point in Round 3 for low blows, was down on the cards 69-93, 68-64 and 68-64 after seven rounds.
Of course, that didn’t matter given the events of Round 8. Bohachuk (18-1, 18 KOs) seemed to be in control when Adams rocked him with the first left hook. The second one knocked him into the ropes and down, hurting him badly.
Bohachuk was able to get up but referee Ramon Pena, convinced the 25-year-old couldn’t continue, stopped the fight. The official time was 2:47.
Adams has now won two consecutive fights since he was nearly shut out in a bid to take Jermall Charlo’s middleweight title in June 2019. The Los Angeles fighter stopped Sonny Duversonne in two rounds in December.
Bohachuk had never been past six rounds before Thursday.
