Adamek gives Bell hell - Jamaican fighter quits in seventh round of title eliminator

KATOWICE, Poland (CMC):

O'Neil Bell's comeback bid ended in major disappointment when he quit against Tomasz Adamek and lost the important International Boxing Federation (IBF) cruiser-weight title eliminator on Saturday night.

Adamek, in front of his home crowd, had been dominating the contest at the Spodek Arena and emerged with an eighth-round technical knockout victory when the Jamaican opted out of the bout after round seven.

The win guarantees Adamek a shot at IBF champion Steve Cunningham.

"Next is Cunningham and then a unification bout against David Haye," Adamek said after the bout.

Adamek, a former world light heavyweight champion, improved his ring record to 34 wins (23 knockouts) against one loss with the victory, while Bell dropped to 26 wins (24 knockouts) against three losses.

Quick knock-down

Making just his third appearance at the 200-pound cruiserweight level, Adamek scored a quick knockdown early.

Bell dropped on one knee after taking a right hand in round one and Adamek enjoyed good success by out-boxing the ex-champion.

The harder-punching Bell, who once held the undisputed world cruiserweight title, became more aggressive and stepped up the pressure in the third round, but Adamek continued to use his quickness and ring craft with good results.

Bell, also nicknamed 'Give 'Em Hell', surprisingly quit after the seventh round.

Frustrated

He appeared to be frustrated over his inability to find an effective strategy to counter Adamek and opted not to come out for the eighth.

At the time of the stoppage, Adamek was ahead on points on all the judges' cards, but with five rounds remaining, Bell still had a chance if he had reversed the trend.

Judge Pawel Kardyni had Adamek ahead 69-63, but his colleagues William Ray (67-65) and Willie Davies (68-64) had it closer.

Adamek had surrendered the World Boxing Council (WBC) light heavyweight crown in February last year when he lost to the unbeaten American Chad Dawson.

Since that defeat, Adamek moved up to the cruiserweight division and scored good wins over Luis Pineda and Jospi Jalusic.

Bell was trying to restore his career after losing a rematch with Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck last year March in France, a result that snapped a 26-fight unbeaten streak for Bell.

Bell had become a world champion in May 2005 when he defeated Canada's Dale Brown on points in Florida for the vacant IBF title and he went on to become undisputed champion when he defeated Mormeck in January 2006.