Nicholas Adams Wins In First-Round Knockout

By Loyd McIntosh

Pell City, Alabama - Nicholas “Baby Boy” Adams won his second career professional fight in stunning fashion in front of a boisterous home crowd Saturday, December 4, 2021, at the CEPA Building at Pell City High School. Adams, a 25-year-old super-middleweight, defeated Wilson, North Carolina’s Joshuan Cox, in a first-round knockout in a fight that was never in doubt from the opening bell. 
“I knew he wasn't getting out of the first round as soon as we touched gloves, really,” said Adams in a post-fight interview. “I was looking in his eyes and it was like I was looking right through him like he wasn’t all there. I thought ‘I don’t think he’s ready for what I’ve got.’”
Coming into the fight, Adams and his trainer, Martin Juarez of Juarez Boxing in Irondale, felt confident in the training regimen put in place after Adams’ debut fight in July against Keith Criddell. The focus was on improving Adam’s cardiovascular fitness, a deficiency that nearly led to his defeat last summer before rallying in the fourth round to knockout Criddell. In the months since his debut, Adams ran three miles every day and Juarez trained his pupil for an eight-round fight, twice the number of rounds scheduled for the bout with Cox.
“What  I learned in my first fight is that you can be mentally prepared all you want to, but if your legs aren't in shape it doesn't matter,” said Adams during a pre-fight interview. “I’ve put in the hard work and preparation for this fight and I think I’ve graduated from chicken legs to rooster legs. They’re ready to carry me four rounds tonight.”
To the degree that Adams was over-prepared for the fight, his opponent was apparently under-prepared. At the Friday weigh-in at Jumbo’s Burgers, Wings & More, Cox weighed in at 174 pounds, ten pounds heavier than Adams and six-to-eight pounds over the agreed-upon weight of 166 pounds. Despite the significant weight difference, Jaurez and Adams believed the advantage was firmly in their corner. 
“I have no concerns at all,” said Juarez. “What this says to me is he lacks dedication and training. We're ready for him.” 
“Apparently he had a really good flight on the way to Birmingham because he put ten pounds on. I hope he enjoyed his flight,” said Adams. “Anyway, he weighed in overweight, but we're still going to put on a good show for the crowd tonight!”
The first bout of the second half of Logan Martin Rumble III, promoted by One One Six Boxing Promotions, Adams emerged from the locker room to thunderous applause there to support the hometown hero. Wearing black trunks and black shoes, Adams was the aggressor from the opening bell, working his left jab to Cox’s body setting up a flurry of shots to the head throughout the first round. Tactically, working the body was a point of strategy during training sessions with Juarez. “Everybody wants to be a headhunter,” Adams said. “One of the best quotes (Juarez) has taught me is ‘go to the body and the head will follow.’” 
At just over a minute into the first round, Adams connected with a left hook to the head before unleashing a flurry of body shots forcing Cox into the corner and eventually to the canvas, stumbling himself in the process. Cox rose to his feet a split second before referee Coby Dodson could complete the ten count. Just 30 seconds later, Adams again landed a vicious left hand to Cox’s temple, worked the body with a blur of body shots, and crumpled Cox into the corner, this time for good. 
His second knockout in as many fights, Adams improved his professional record to 2-0 but acknowledges he’s still learning how to pace himself in the ring. Recognizing he, once again, was in danger of expending too much energy too son, Adams forced himself to slow down and focus on the fight plan drawn up by Jaurez. 
“I don't think I so much as slowed down as I composed myself,” Adams said shortly after the fight. “Last time I didn't know where or what to throw, but this time I knew what to do. I just had to regroup and listen and follow the game plan.”
Adams will take some time off to rest following the fight and will evaluate opportunities for his next fight which he believes will be some time in early 2022.