Adams vows to improve with experience
Nicola Adams has admitted she tried too hard for the knockout on her professional debut in Manchester on Saturday. The Olympic champion triumphed with a four-round points decision over the raw Argentine Virginia Carcamo but Adams did not produce the slick boxing for which she is known.
Though she unloaded several typically accurate shots in the final two rounds to clinch a deserved 40-36 points decision, this was not quite the fighter who won every major belt as an amateur and who prepared for the bout with renowned American trainer Virgil Hunter.
“I just need to learn to settle down a bit more. I really wanted the stoppage so I was going for it, but Virgil said they will come when I start to get more experience,” Adams said.
“I’m learning new things and taking it a little bit at a time. Now I know what it’s like to box without a headguard and in the third and fourth rounds you saw the ring-rust come off a bit more.”
In contrast to the cacophony of noise which greeted her Olympic and Commonwealth gold medals in London and Glasgow in 2012 and 2014, there was just a smattering of applause for Adams as she fought on the undercard of Briton Terry Flanagan’s successful World Boxing Organisation lightweight title defence against Russia’s Petr Petrov.
But Adams shrugged off the lukewarm response and is looking forward to a swift return to ac- tion, fighting in her home city of Leeds next month for the first time in 21 years. She intends to box for a world title at flyweight “within a year”, but will not be in the professional ranks for long. “I’ll probably do max about four years,” the 34-year-old said. “I don’t want to go on too long.” In main event at the Manchester the Arena, Flanagan retained his WBO title for the fifth time with a physically draining 12-round points win over Petrov. But the 27-yearold, eager for a major unification fight or one of the sport’s biggest names, feels underappreciated as an undefeated world champion with a career record of 33 victories.
Promoter Frank Warren drew on the parallel of Joe Calzaghe, the former twoweight world champion, who retired undefeated on 46 fights. “It took Joe eight years to become ‘an overnight sensation’ and I think it is similar with Terry.”
Flanagan is now hunting a unification bout against World Boxing Association/ International Boxing Federation champion Jorge Linares or the very serious challenge of Vasyl Lomachenko. The Ukrainian defended his WBO super-featherweight title with ease against Jason Sosa in Maryland on Saturday and has been in talks with promoter Bob Arum about stepping up in weight.
Flanagan said: “I’m confident of beating anyone in this division. Obviously Lomachenko would be coming up in weight but if anybody out there is going to beat him, it’s me.”