Unlucky defeat for Dilks

Charles Adamu has claimed the vacant Commonwealth super-middleweight title after scoring a controversial split decision victory against Carl Dilks.

The judges scored the fight 116-113, 113-115 and 115-114 in favour of the Ghanaian - a result which caused surprise among spectators at the York Hall in Bethnal Green.

Adamu had not fought for 15 months and certainly looked rusty but his crude style ultimately served him well enough against the Liverpudlian, who in hindsight should have done more to exploit advantages in weight, reach and recent experience.

Dilks, who lost out on a place in the Prizefighter light-heavyweight final in February - his only previous loss in 14 professional fights - was making his debut in the weight division on Friday.

He was also fighting at just over three weeks' notice and later said that this too could have been a factor in the result.

"In the last round, I thought I'd done just enough to win it," Dilks told Sky Sports. "I thought it was very close going into the last minute - we needed a big round.

"I think I boxed the right fight. Maybe I should have been moving my head a little bit more but I've only had three-and-a-half weeks notice and I've done 12 rounds.

"I'm only 26 and I can still come again and hopefuly try and get a rematch - and hopefuly set the record straight next time round."

Adamu has taken WBC champion Carl Froch the distance in the past, although that 2004 contest seemed a very long time ago as Dilks easily dodged his swinging hooks during the early exchanges.

Dilks started to get the measure of his opponent and proceeded to make use of his reach and speed to connect with jabs while keeping out of range of the Ghanaian.

Adamu's all-action approach was not the most efficient in that he was throwing far more punches than his opponent but hardly landing any, and yet Dilks was also guilty of sitting back too much during the middle rounds.

The fight continued in much the same vein with Dilks seemingly happy enough to go for a points win - a tactic which ultimately backfired as Adamu, for all his blustering approach, gained the verdict.

Later, Albert Sosnowski won the European heavyweight title with a unanimous verdict over Italian veteran Paolo Vidoz - speculation also suggesting the British-based Pole's next opponent could be Audley Harrison.