Charles Adamu

Charles Adamu (born 8 May 1977) is a Ghanain professional boxer fighting in the super middleweight division. As an amateur he represented Ghana in the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games winning a bronze medal and in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games reaching the second round. As a professional he is a two-time holder of the Commonwealth super middleweight title.

Adamu's professional debut came in August 2001 with a victory over Bob Abiro in Kaneshie, Ghana. He fought seven more times winning on each occasion before on 1 August 2003 travelling to the United Kingdom and defeating England's Matthew Barney for the Commonwealth super middleweight title. Following the title win Adamu returned to Ghana and scored two more victories before returning to Europe, this time to Germany, to fight Ukrainian Vitali Tsypko for the WBA Inter-continental title on 28 February 2004. The fight with Tsypko lasted the distance but resulted in a first defeat for the Ghanain.

Adamu's next fight following the defeat was on 12 March 2004 in the United Kingdom once more and was the first defence of his Commonwealth title. His opponent, Britain's Carl Froch, who would go on to become the WBC World Super Middleweight champion, inflicted Adamu's second defeat in a row in a hard fought contest. Later, during an interview in 2007, Froch would go on to describe the Ghanain as his toughest opponent to date.

The next fight of note for the now former Commonwealth champion took place on 18 June 2005 and meant that Adamu had to travel once more, this time to Canada. His opponent in a challenge for the WBC inter continental title was Jamaican Otis Grant and the fight resulted in a third career defeat, again on points for Adamu. In the next three years, Adamu only boxed on three more occasions, gaining three more wins before travelling once more, this time to South Africa to fight for the African Boxing Unions version of the super middleweight belt. The fight on 13 September 2008 against Malawi's Isaac Chilemba resulted in heartbreak once more for Adamu as he went down for the fourth time to a 12-round points defeat in a title contest.

On 18 December 2009 Adamu returned to the United Kingdom to challenge once more for the Commonwealth title. In a fight that once more went the full 12 rounds, Adamu won a split decision over England's Carl Dilks to regain the title he first held in 2003. As with the last time he held the title however Adamu would go on to lose the title in his first defence this time to prospect George Groves. The fight, on 3 April 2010, was ended in the sixth round after Groves had put Adamu down three times during the fight.