The fighting pride of Elías Piña, Dominican Republic, Carlos Adames has reached the heady heights of the WBC middleweight championship. Now he is set to embark on the next chapter of his career with Zuffa Boxing as he looks to underscore his legacy. Adames’ career started out in the amateur ranks, where he logged more than 200 wins, including a gold medal in the 2012 Pan American Youth Championships. The young Adames eventually turned professional in 2015 and claimed victory with a unanimous decision victory inside Brooklyn Masonic Temple. After that win, Adames wouldn’t see another scorecard until his 12th fight, where he earned a unanimous decision victory over Carlos Molina.
Throughout Adames’ pro boxing apprenticeship, he shared the ring with seasoned campaigners, with all of his opponents from his fourth fight on boasting significant experience advantages over him, as well as winning records. But, one by one, Adames defeated them as his record, and reputation, grew. By November 2019, he had picked up regional titles and put himself in line for a world title shot.
His first world title opportunity came against Patrick Teixeira in Las Vegas, where he was edged out by unanimous decision for the WBO interim junior middleweight title after a closely contested battle, with only one point separating the pair on two of the judges’ scorecards. Following that defeat, Adames went back to the drawing board and bounced back with a sixth-round knockout of Brahian Jose Medina, after which he moved up to middleweight. It proved to be the best decision of his career.
Fighting in the 160-pound division, Adames claimed back-to-back victories as he rounded off 2021 with a TKO stoppage of Alexis Salazar Flores and a ten-round majority decision victory over Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Those wins earned him a crack at the WBC interim middleweight crown, and a third-round knockout of Juan Macias Montiel saw Adames earn [interim] championship honors for the first time in his professional career. He defended that interim belt once, with a ninth-round stoppage of former unified junior middleweight champion Julian Williams in June 2023 before he was eventually elevated to full champion status 11 months later.
His first defense of the crown saw him taken the distance by Terrell Gausha, but Adames was just too good on the night as he dominated the scorecards for a landslide unanimous decision victory. Adames then held onto his title by the slimmest of margins as he battled to a split draw with Hamza Sheeraz in February 2025 in Riyadh, but he returned to his dominant best in his most recent outing in Orlando in March as he dropped Austin “Ammo” Williams in the second round en route to a unanimous decision victory to maintain his firm grip on championship gold.
Following that victory earlier this year, and with a career record of 25-1-1 (18 KOs), Adames announced he had signed with Zuffa Boxing as he gets set to embark on the next chapter of his career. “This is a new chapter in my career, and I’m here to make history. Zuffa Boxing is building something special, and I want to be part of it,” said Adames upon signing. “I’m ready to face the best fighters in the world on the biggest stage. The best of ‘Caballo Bronco’ is yet to come.”
With Adames joining a Zuffa middleweight cohort that includes IBF champion Aaron McKenna and former WBO champ Denzel Bentley, as well contenders Callum Walsh and Shane Mosley Jr., the Zuffa Boxing 160-pound division is loading up with top-tier talent.
And on Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Adames will get the chance to showcase his skills in a non-title super-middleweight showcase before his next middleweight championship outing. He’ll take on Wales’ Gerome Warburton, who has championship ambitions of his own following back-to-back wins over England’s Nathan Heaney earlier this year. Victory for Adames opens the door to some mouth-watering matchups in 2027, with the Las Vegas-based champion is determined to prove he’s the cream of the middleweight crop.
