ESPN Boxing

Rafael's remark: Although Adamek has fought on both HBO and Showtime, the cruiserweight champion is nothing more than an afterthought to them despite his crowd-pleasing style and loyal following. With no room at the inn and HBO unwilling to commit to an Adamek-Bernard Hopkins championship fight, Adamek, who makes his home in New Jersey, returned to his native Poland for his nation's biggest-ever fight. It was a heavyweight showdown with Golota, the longtime enigma who remains beloved by his people despite a career filled with disappointments. It didn't matter that Golota, long faded at 41, is a quitter with no mental strength who has gone 0-3-1 in title bouts (including pathetic first-round knockout losses to Lennox Lewis and Lamon Brewster) and was twice disqualified against Riddick Bowe. They didn't even care that he was stopped in one round in his last fight by journeyman Ray Austin. This fight was like the Super Bowl or World Cup in Poland. There was an overflow crowd of about 17,000 at the Arena Lodz and a national audience watching on Polsat, the country's largest over-the-air network, which expected viewership to surpass 10 million (about a quarter of Poland's population).

Adamek gave up his sanctioning organization belt to make the lucrative bout, but he still holds the Ring magazine cruiserweight title as the lineal champion at 200 pounds. Although he weighed 214 pounds and was far smaller than Golota, who was a career-heavy 256 pounds, Adamek thoroughly dominated. He decked Golota with a flurry of punches late in a big first round. Adamek was way faster than Golota, who couldn't land anything clean and spent a lot of time on the defensive. Adamek continued the assault throughout the fight, rocking Golota repeatedly with flurries and a strong right hand. He hurt Golota again in the fourth round with a right hand and follow-up attack. In the fifth, another right hand sent Golota to the canvas for the second time. Adamek continued landing overhand rights until Golota staggered into the corner and American referee Bill Clancy jumped in to rescue the defenseless Golota.

It was a tremendous performance for Adamek, who maintained before and after the fight that he is more than willing to return to cruiserweight to defend the title or remain at heavyweight, where he's interested in a fight with either Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko, the brothers who hold three of the four alphabet belts. Both Klitschkos are in need of notable opponents and surely a match with Adamek would be big in Europe or even in New York. Wherever Adamek, 32, can make the most money is where he will fight. Main Events' Kathy Duva, who promotes Adamek, told ESPN.com she expects Adamek to return to action in early February in Newark, his home base, where Duva has the Prudential Center on hold. Adamek won his eighth fight in a row since losing his light heavyweight belt via decision to Chad Dawson in February 2007 and moving up in weight. Golota lost his second in a row, dropped to 3-4 in his past seven and really needs to hang 'em up before he gets hurt.

Rafael's remark: Coming off his solid points victory against Alfredo "Perro" Angulo on May 30, Cintron returned to the ring. Although this wasn't a major fight for the former two-time welterweight titleholder, it meant a lot to the 30-year-old Cintron. He was born in Puerto Rico but grew up in Reading, Pa., and has always wanted to fight in his homeland. Promoter Lou DiBella made it possible for Cintron to perform on the island, and he did it with a dominant performance against Brazil's Ramos, 29, in the main event of a pay-per-view televised on Dish Network. Cintron fought at 150 pounds by design. He wants to show he can fight the best in the 147-pound welterweight division or the best in the 154-pound junior middleweight division. He'll go where he can get the biggest and best fights, although junior middleweight titlist Daniel Santos, of Puerto Rico, who has his own fight to worry about Nov. 14 against Yuri Foreman, has started taking shots at Cintron. Santos-Cintron would probably be a big fight in Puerto Rico. But back to the Ramos fight. They started slowly, although that's Cintron's style. But he became more aggressive in the third and fourth rounds. In the fourth, Cintron rocked Ramos with a series of shots and then dropped him near the end of the round with a booming right hand. Ramos survived but the fight was over, officially ending 10 seconds into the fifth round when Ramos didn't come out. Ramos dropped his second in a row by TKO. If you did not catch the pay-per-view, the bout will eventually be replayed on DiBella's "Broadway Boxing" series on Sports Net New York, so if you live in the region or have satellite service you'll be able to check it out.

Rafael's remark: Rojas, 29, of Mexico, took a big chance by facing South Africa's Mbamba, 28, with a date against champion Vic Darchinyan on the books for Dec. 12 on Showtime. Anything could have happened -- a loss, a cut or some other injury -- to waylay his payday against Darchinyan. Fortunately, Rojas had no such issues as he dominated fellow southpaw Mbamba en route to the lopsided decision in a TV Azteca main event. Rojas was clearly the stronger, more physical fighter. Rojas had picked up the vacant interim belt in July with a ninth-round knockout of Everardo Morales. But Darchinyan was an active champion who was not injured, so the WBC's only reason for sanctioning the unnecessary interim belt was to pocket the sanctioning fee that went with it. It was pointless. Rojas has been on a solid run of late, moving to 6-0-1 since he being knocked out by Jorge Arce in September 2007.

Rafael's remark: Year after year, there is always at least one standout fight from Great Britain. This year, Rhodes' upset of Moore in a classic slugfest looks to be the one. With slam-bang action all the way, it's a clear fight of the year candidate. Twelve years since an unsuccessful challenge for a middleweight belt and viewed as past his prime, England's Rhodes, 32, once a rising star of British boxing, survived an all-out battle with countryman and fellow southpaw Moore, 30. After six heated, give-and-take rounds -- especially the toe-to-toe third and sixth rounds -- Rhodes was the one with more left in the tank. While Moore appeared to be fading, Rhodes kept swinging. He knocked Moore down with a hard right hand early in the seventh round, but he survived. They continued swapping punches at close quarters, but Rhodes had more steam on his punches. He finally staggered Moore with a big overhand right, which sent him reeling into the ropes. Rhodes, who said afterward it was the toughest fight of his 14-year professional career, chased after him and unloaded approximately 11 blows against the defenseless Moore before referee Howard John Foster intervened. What a fight and what a victory for Rhodes! The victory not only earned him the European title, which Moore was defending for the second time, it also moved him a step closer to a world title shot against Sergio Martinez. Moore had been on a tremendous 12-fight winning streak until losing for the first time since dropping consecutive fights in 2004.

Rafael's remark: In the "ShoBox" main event, California-based Mexican Hernandez, 30, had a pretty easy time with Frias. Hernandez, who could be considered a fringe contender, dominated virtually all of the fight except for the 10th round. That's when the Cuban-born, Miami-based Frias, 33, finally opened up. He hurt Hernandez briefly in the final round, but it was too little, too late as his 12-fight winning streak came to an end. Had Frias, who hadn't fought for nine months, been more aggressive and let his hands go earlier in the fight, it could have been a much different story. This wasn't exactly a memorable fight. Hernandez hasn't lost since a split decision to Golden Johnson in 2005, although he did have a head-butt-induced no-contest in 2003.

Rafael's remark: Fonseca, 28, of Puerto Rico kept his perfect record intact, but it sure wasn't easy. He was trailing 79-72 (too wide) and 77-75 on two of the scorecards and was even (76-76) on the third when he hurt an already-bloodied Seeger and knocked him down midway through the ninth round to end the fight. Seeger, 29, of Savanna, Ga., was taken to the hospital afterward for precautionary reasons. Seeger was pretty aggressive for most of the fight, his first bout since the tragic outcome of his April 30 victory against Benjamin Flores in Dallas. In that fight, Seeger stopped Flores in the eighth round and, five days later, Flores died from head injuries suffered in the bout. Against Fonseca, Seeger used his jab nicely, but also was hit with a lot of shots from Fonseca, a southpaw who had some zip on his right jab. The blows Fonseca landed bloodied and swelled Seeger's face. In the ninth, Fonseca cracked Seeger with a left hand, hurting him. As Seeger went staggering backward, Fonseca chased after him and landed another left hand for the knockdown. Referee Ruben Carrion didn't bother to count, immediately waving off the fight at 1 minute, 41 seconds. The loss was Seeger's fourth in five fights, a slide that began when Daniel Ponce De Leon smashed him in the eighth round of their junior featherweight title bout in October 2006. During the slide, Seeger has also been crushed in one round by the explosive Yuriorkis Gamboa, who would go on to win a featherweight belt.

Rafael's remark: Russell, of Capitol Heights, Md., was the 2008 U.S. Olympic bantamweight but did not compete in Beijing after passing out attempting to make weight on the eve of his first bout. It was a bitter disappointment for Russell, who launched his pro career in January. Showtime offered highlights of his tough fight with Lopez, who rocked Russell in the third round of the closely contested bout. Showtime's Steve Farhood, who was ringside, said the fight could have been a draw. He said the first round was close, the third round was a clear round for Lopez, 20, and that Russell, 21, clearly won the fourth round because Lopez gave it away by not fighting.

Rafael's remark: At one time, this would have been a significant heavyweight fight between former champion McCall and former contender Whitaker. But that was more than a decade ago. Now they are just two guys playing out the string with a bit of name recognition. McCall, 44, scored a first-round knockdown, which was the difference in the fight. McCall won his third bout in a row since losing a lopsided decision in Germany to Juan Carlos Gomez in a title eliminator in October 2007. Whitaker, 37, dropped to 3-3 in his past six bouts dating to 2005.

Rafael's remark: There are few fighters as much fun to watch (or listen to trash talk) as Miranda, the big bomber from Colombia. Although he's lost against his best opponents -- Kelly Pavlik, Arthur Abraham (twice, including one highly controversial decision) and a lopsided decision to Andre Ward in May, he returned from the loss to Ward to score this easy wipeout knockout. The 28-year-old Miranda, working with new trainer Joe Goossen for the first time, had no problems with Sierra. Miranda worked his jab until finding a spot to throw his powerful right. And when he did, it landed. He rocked Sierra with a few right hands and left hooks and finally put him away with a short one to the temple that sent Sierra to the canvas face-first with 44 seconds left in the opening round. Sierra, 21, of Mexico, saw his nine-fight winning streak come to an abrupt end. Promoter Dan Goossen, now co-promoting Miranda with Seminole Warriors Boxing, has suggested that Miranda face Allan Green, whom Miranda soundly outpointed in 2007, in a rematch to determine who should take the place of Jermain Taylor should he, as many expect, drop out of Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic super middleweight tournament after suffering a brutal knockout and severe concussion against Arthur Abraham in the tournament opener Oct. 17. Goossen has very little hope of getting Miranda a spot in the tournament, but he's just looking out for his guy. Even without being in the tournament, Miranda's style and knockout power should afford him another quality opportunity after this rebound victory.

Rafael's remark: Honorio, 29, of Mexico, has had only three fights in three years, but this was his second fifth-round knockout victory in a row since losing via first-round knockout challenging then-featherweight titleholder Robert Guerrero in November 2007. The victory set up Honorio, now at lightweight, for a Nov. 28 "ShoBox" fight against rising prospect John Molina (18-0, 14 KOs). That should be a much tougher fight for Honorio than Medina proved to be. Honorio was docked two points for low blows in the early going, but ended it with an overhand right to Medina's chin. Medina, 38, of Mexico, lost his third fight in a row.

Rafael's remark: About 10 years ago, this would have been a pretty interesting fight. But at this point, it was about two guys trying to hang on in the twilight of their careers. Mitchell apparently will be the one to keep his hopes alive after the convincing knockout victory. He dropped Telesco at the end of the first round with an overhand right on the chin. In the second round, Telesco stunned Mitchell with a left hook, but Mitchell followed with another overhand right just as Telesco was firing a left hook. Mitchell's blow landed first, sending Telesco face-first to the mat, and the referee called it off with Telesco trying to get to his feet. Mitchell, 35, twice held a slice of the super middleweight title and faced several quality opponents, stopping Frankie Liles in 1999 to win a belt for the first time. He also faced Joe Calzaghe (knocked him down) and Sven Ottke in losses before a four-year layoff until returning in 2007. In 2000, Telesco, 41, faced a prime Roy Jones for the light heavyweight title and lost a shutout decision. In July, Telesco returned from a four-year retirement for an easy knockout win. This was the second bout of his ill-advised comeback.