Adams wins ABF light heavyweight title
Boxing is known as the sweet science — and Lucas Adams had been studying.
Adams, 27, of Butler, won a unanimous 8-round decision over Alejandro Fugon of Palmdale, Calif., to claim the vacant American Boxing Federation light heavyweight title Saturday night at Michelle Krill Memorial Field at Historic Pullman Park.
Judges’ scores were 78-74, 78-74, 79-73.
The main event capped the first pro boxing show at the ballpark in seven years.
Fugon came into the bout with all four of his previous wins coming by knockout. Neither fighter was ever hurt in this match and Adams was able to dodge a number of haymakers thrown by Fugon.
“I did my homework. I knew what he wanted to do,” Adams said.
Both fighters weighed in at 169 pounds. Adams, now 6-1-2 as a pro, now holds the ABF light heavyweight and cruiserweight titles.
“That’s pretty cool,” he said. “This should get me a few more (boxing) opportunities. But I’m still taking things one fight at a time. I hope to fight one more time before the end of the year, somewhere in Western Pennsylvania.”
A full-time steelworker in East Butler, Adams had T-shirts on sale with the words “Hands of American Steel” printed across the front. The crowd of approximately broke into “Let’s Go Lucas!” chants at times during the fight.
Fugon (4-3-2) said the decision may have been aided by the hometown crowd.
“It is what it is,” Fugon, 36, said. “I thought the fight was close. But the crowd cheered loudly every time he (Adams) would throw a jab or punch ... shots that weren’t even landing very often. That probably got the guy a few points.
“This was a good fight, an even fight. I couldn’t get to him. If this exact same fight takes place in an empty stadium, it’s probably a draw. I think that’s fair.”
Adams disagreed.
“After the first four rounds, I thought the fight was close,” he said. “I turned it up a notch after that and thought I controlled the latter half of the fight, especially the last two rounds.
“He (Fugon) hade more wind than I thought. I watched a couple of his previous matches and he gets his knockouts with his overhand right. That’s what he kept looking to land. I was conscious of that. I ducked under it all night. I didn’t want to get caught. I didn’t want to get hurt. That’s how I fight.”
Rich Cramer, Adams’ trainer, credited Adams for “fighting a patient fight. Lucas did what he had to do. He tired that guy out toward the end.”
Adams used his left jab to set up a solid right cross in the second round. Fugon began punching to the body when his shots toward the head were missing consistently. He did nail Adams with a straight right to the top of the head in the fifth round, but it had no affect.
Fugon had the short end of exchanges over the final two rounds.
“I’m OK with the decision,” Fugon said. “I know I didn’t beat him.”
Brian Mowry, 28, a 2011 Knoch graduate, made his pro boxing debut a success, scoring a technical knockout of Dennis Vance Jr. (4-11) of South Branch, Mich., on the under-card. The heavyweight bout was scheduled for four rounds and was stopped 1:59 into the third round.
Mowry, who stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 251 pounds, forced Vance to take three standing-8 counts. The fight was stopped by the referee while he was counting the third standing-8.
“Yeah, this felt pretty good,” Mowry said. “I started out a little slow, tentative ... there’s going to be growing pains with this. But I know I’m going to get better.”
Mowry, who works in Pittsburgh, spent several years in the Butler Cubs boxing program, as did Adams. He placed third nationally in the Golden Gloves competition earlier this year.
“There’s nothing left for me to do in amateurs, so it was time to turn pro,” Mowry said. “There’s a fight card in Pittsburgh in October and I’m going to try getting a spot on there.”
The evening’s other fight saw two-time Pennsylvania Golden Gloves champion Devon Siegfried (2-0) of Ellwood City, at light heavyweight, score a TKO at 1:34 of the third round against Tahlik Taylor (6-25-2) of Durham, N.H. Siegfried floored Taylor with a thunderous left hook late in the second round and controlled the fight from there.
The fight night began with a three-round exhibition bout between Butler’s Ryan Covert and Ellwood City’s Jordan Carr. That event raised $800 for charity.
