Carlos Adames received a wonderful birthday present this year: he was promoted to official WBC middleweight titleholder.
On June 15, Adames will make his first title defense against 2012 U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha on the pay-per-view undercard of the Gervonta Davis vs. Frank Martin fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Adames (23-1, 18 KOs) has been the interim champion since October 2022, knocking out Juan Macias Montiel in the third round in a bout to replace the vacant title, which was scheduled due to the absence of WBC champion Jermall Charlo. Adames defended the title once last year, knocking out former unified junior middleweight champion Julian Williams. Charlo was arrested for drunk driving on May 7, and was stripped of his title, the same day Adames turned 30.
“I was really happy to be promoted to world champion on my birthday,” Adames said. “The news was the best surprise for my birthday. What I really wanted was to fight Jermall Charlo, but he made his choice.”
Adames has been waiting for a title defense against Charlo, but that moment never came. His first full defense of his WBC title will be against Gauchat (24-3-1, 12 KOs), who lost his last junior middleweight title bout to then-WBA titleholder Erislandy Lara. The 36-year-old enters next week's bout on a two-fight win streak after losing via unanimous decision to Tim Tsiu, despite Adames having him knocked out in the first round. Adames, a power puncher, noted that Gauchat has never been stopped.
“Gausha is known to be a tough fighter to beat, but I haven't felt his strength yet,” Adames said. “If he can fight to the end, I'll give him all my respects. In any case, I'm not obsessed with knockouts. I'm prepared for whatever happens in the ring.”
Since moving up to middleweight, Adames has been on a roll, winning four straight bouts at the weight class, including a majority decision victory over Sergey Derevyanchenko. Some may think that the fighters Gausha has faced, such as Lara, Tszyu, Erickson Rubin and Austin Trout, are better, but Adames isn't worried, as he feels he is better and has improved since losing to Patrick Teixeira for the interim WBO junior middleweight title in 2019.
“I'm not worried about Gausha's history or who he's fought before because I'm the best fighter he's ever faced,” Adames said. “I'm the best fighter in the 160-pound division, so he should be prepared for who he's going to face. I'm not underestimating anyone, but I'm not worried about his experience.”
