By Phil Rivera of Boxingtribune.com<\/p>\n
On February 28, eight middleweights will congregate in Hammond, Indiana for the quarter finals of ESPN\u2019s 2014 \u201cBoxcino Tournament\u201d. Among them will be Brandon Adams of Los Angeles, California (12-0, 8 KOs), who takes on veteran Daniel Edouard (23-4-2, 12 KOs) for a chance to advance to the semis.Brandon Adams.<\/p>\n
Growing up, Adams was one of nine siblings raised by his mother in the rough neighborhood of Watts, L.A. (known for the 1965 Watts Race Riots). In recent years, Watts has been marred by Bloods and Crips gang violence; which a young Adams refused to be a part of.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere I lived was very territorial and I felt a lot of pressure [to join a gang],\u201d said the 24-year-old. \u201cBut I saw the flip-side of living as a gang-banger and going to jail. Some of my friends lost their lives and I realized that it wasn\u2019t for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, Adams chose to help his mother care for his brothers and sisters in the poverty stricken Watts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t recognize how bad it was because I lived it, but looking from the outside in, it wasn\u2019t good,\u201d said Adams. \u201cI mean, we had one of them families who didn\u2019t know how poor we were. But even if there was no food in the house, my mom still found beans and rice for us to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adams took up boxing at age 17 and soon thereafter was introduced to trainer Dub Huntley, who was the inspiration for Morgan Freeman\u2019s character in \u201cMillion Dollar Baby\u201d. After just six amateur fights, the pair became frustrated at their inability to find quality opponents and made the leap to the pro ranks in 2011.<\/p>\n
With only 12 pro fights, the undefeated middleweight still considers every bout to be on the job training. And to help make up for his lack of experience, he\u2019s sparred with world class boxers like Carlos Molina and Freddie Hernandez. Edouard on the other hand has been in big fights before, having faced the likes of Jermain Taylor and Peter Manfredo Jr.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Edouard is a good fighter,\u201d Adams said. \u201cHe\u2019s a good test for me. He\u2019s definitely going to be the toughest fighter I\u2019ve ever fought in my career and I feel like overcoming him will solidify me in the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under normal circumstances, a boxer would have a fight scheduled and win or lose wouldn\u2019t necessarily know what\u2019s next. In a tournament however, there\u2019s a map that shows the road you must take to win it all. This can cause a pugilist to look ahead of his immediate opponent; a problem that Adams says will not affect him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have my trainers and people around me to keep me focused on the task at hand. I mean, I do get a wandering eye, but they keep me focused on the guy that I have a date with,\u201d said the west coast product.<\/p>\n
Along with his trainers, Adams credits his wife for keeping him focused. The couple is expecting their first child later this year; a journey which he describes as humbling. He also looks forward to becoming the father that he never had.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife keeps me on a straight line, she supports me and has been my back bone,\u201d said Adams. \u201cBeing a father is something that I\u2019ve always wanted to be. I\u2019ve never had much of a father figure in my life, so I\u2019m going to do everything I possibly can to be the best father that I can be.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Adams can win this tournament, it would add to what is already a big year for his blossoming family. When you look beyond his lack of amateur and pro experience, and see what it took for him to get here, you\u2019d be hard pressed to find anyone who wants it more.<\/p>\n
\u201cAw man, I believe winning this tournament can catapult my career,\u201d said Adams. \u201cIt\u2019s going to change my life. All the stars are aligning right.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On February 28, eight middleweights will congregate in Hammond, Indiana for the quarter finals of ESPN\u2019s 2014 \u201cBoxcino Tournament\u201d. Among them will be Brandon Adams of Los Angeles, California (12-0, 8 KOs), who takes on veteran Daniel Edouard (23-4-2, 12 KOs) for a chance to advance to the semis.Brandon Adams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[195],"class_list":["post-6788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-brandon-adams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banner-promotions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banner-promotions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banner-promotions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banner-promotions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banner-promotions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6788"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/banner-promotions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6837,"href":"https:\/\/banner-promotions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788\/revisions\/6837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banner-promotions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banner-promotions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banner-promotions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banner-promotions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}